Research interests
Dr. Patel’s laboratory leverages gene-encoded technologies to advance development of antibodies and vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. Her research interests include respiratory viruses, antimicrobial resistant (AMR) pathogens, and other priority pathogens. Her group takes a multidisciplinary approach that brings together virology, bacteriology, immunology, pharmacology, and gene therapy to develop innovative solutions to advance infectious disease control.
Advancing nucleic acid vaccines against infectious diseases: Dr. Patel has extensive expertise in the design, engineering, and preclinical development of DNA vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. Her recent work includes DNA vaccine development and clinical translation of candidates against Ebolavirus, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. Her research group is advancing DNA vaccine development against influenza A viruses and multi-drug resistant bacteria, with efforts focused on improving antigen design and optimizing delivery to enhance vaccine immunogenicity.
Advancing gene-encoded passive immunization: Dr. Patel is a leading researcher in the emerging area of gene-encoded antibodies with a focus on developing DNA-encoded antibodies (DMAb, DNA-mAb). This strategy bypasses the need for bioprocessed antibody manufacturing by taking advantage of skeletal muscles to express mAb genes directly in vivo. This offers a scalable strategy for long-term protection in vulnerable populations. She has advanced DNA-encoded antibodies from preclinical studies to human clinical studies, including a recent Phase 1 human study delivering a COVID-19 DMAb cocktail. Her research has also demonstrated that sequence engineering is critical to achieving higher in vivo expression. Her research group is developing new strategies to increase in vivo gene-encoded antibody expression, durability, and control.
Biography
Dr. Patel holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology & Immunology from McGill University (Montréal, Canada) and an M.Sc. in Medical Microbiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (London, U.K.). She received her Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada) focusing on vaccine development for high containment viral pathogens with pandemic potential. She undertook postdoctoral training at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (Milan, Italy) studying gene correction in hematopoietic stem cells with lentiviral vectors, followed by a postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania/Wistar Institute (Philadelphia, USA) developing infectious disease countermeasures.
In 2019, she was promoted to Research Assistant Professor at The Wistar Institute. In 2020, Dr. Patel was named a Caspar Wistar Fellow, principal investigator faculty position supporting early-career researchers, and she was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2023. She joined the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in November 2025 as Reader in Infection Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
Selected research publications
Nanoparticle Immunoadjuvant Complexes Augment Germinal Center Responses to Vaccination – Journal: Advanced Science – Published: 28th January 2026
Synthetic DNA co-immunization with vaccine-aligned common consensus nucleoprotein and hemagglutinin protects mice against lethal influenza infection with a single immunization – Journal: Frontiers in Immunology – Published: 26th November 2025
Safety and pharmacokinetics of SARS-CoV-2 DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies in healthy adults, a phase 1 trial – Journal: Nature Medicine – Published: 21st October 2025
Fc-modification of anti-PcrV gene-encoded antibodies modulates complement-mediated killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Journal: Frontiers in Immunology – Published: 31st July 2025
DNA co-delivery of seasonal H1 influenza hemagglutinin nanoparticle vaccines with chemokine adjuvant CTACK induces potent immunogenicity for heterologous protection in vivo – Journal: Vaccine – Published: 20th June 2025
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