Barney S. Graham

Barney S. Graham is an American immunologist, virologist and clinical trials physician. He is the Deputy Director of the Vaccine Research Center and the Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory.

Barney S. Graham
Born
Kansas, US
Spouse(s)Cynthia Turner-Graham
Academic background
EducationBS, biology, Rice University
MD, 1979, University of Kansas School of Medicine
PhD, Microbiology and Immunology, 1991, Vanderbilt University
Academic work
InstitutionsVaccine Research Center
National Institutes of Health
Vanderbilt University

Early life and education

Graham attended Paola High School where he graduated from as valedictorian in 1971 before enrolling at Rice University to major in biology. After earning his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1979, Graham continued his training at Vanderbilt University where he completed his internship, residency, two chief residencies, and infectious diseases fellowship.[1] Graham met his wife Cynthia Turner-Graham during medical school and they wished to complete residencies together. However, due to Turner-Graham's race, they were limited on options. He interviewed at Vanderbilt and accepted a fellowship position there while Turner-Graham was accepted at Meharry Medical College.[2]

Career
Barney Graham pictured with his staff from the NIH Vaccine Research Center

By 1982, Graham was appointed the chief resident at Nashville General Hospital where he treated Tennessee's first AIDS patient.[2] Following this experience, he was named the second chief residency at Vanderbilt University,[3] where he would lead the first human trial on the AIDS vaccine.[4] The results of the trial found that the two experimental AIDS vaccines proved to yield the best immune response in patients.[5] In recongition of his efforts, Graham was elected a Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1996.[6] During his time at Vanderbilt, Graham was simultaneously working on a Ph.D. in microbiology.[3]

In 2000, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recruited Graham to create a vaccine-evaluation clinic (Vaccine Research Center) but he insisted on maintaining a research laboratory to focus on vaccines for three categories of respiratory viruses.[2] During the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic, Graham and Ted Pierson, chief of the Laboratory of Viral Diseases, collaborated to create a vaccine. Their vaccine was intended to prevent the Zika virus which has caused serious birth defects in the children of women infected during pregnancy. Moving from inception to manufacturing in just three months, they began Phase 2 clinical trial in March 2017 to measure its effectiveness. In recognition of their efforts, they were finalists for the 2018 Promising Innovations Medal.[7]

Working alongside former postdoc Jason McLellan, they discovered that "adding two prolines to a key joint of a vaccine’s spike protein could stabilize the structure’s prefusion shape." This method would later be applied to the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming years.[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Graham's laboratory partnered with Moderna to develop vaccine technology. As a result, he was a member of the research team that designed a spike protein to combat the coronavirus vaccine. His research found that some virus proteins change shape after they break into a person's cells, leading to the design of a better vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus.[9][10]

Personal life

Graham is married to Cynthia Turner-Graham and they have three adult children together.[11]

References
  1. "Barney S. Graham, MD'79, PhD 2017: Distinguished Medical Alumnus" (PDF). kumc.info. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  2. Wright, Lawrence (December 28, 2020). "The Plague Year". newyorker.com. The New Yorker. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  3. Colmenares, Clinton (2013). "Barney Graham leaves Vanderbilt for NIH, but his feet stay planted". reporter.newsarchive.vumc.org. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  4. "First human tests of AIDS vaccine slated". Auburn Journal. August 12, 1987. Retrieved January 10, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "New experiment with AIDS vaccines called encouraging". The Sacramento Bee. June 22, 1991. Retrieved January 10, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  6. "Barney S. Graham, MD, PhD". the-asci.org. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  7. "BARNEY S. GRAHAM, M.D., PH.D and Theodore C. Pierson, Ph.D." servicetoamericamedals.org. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  8. Cross, Ryan (September 29, 2020). "The tiny tweak behind COVID-19 vaccines". cen.acs.org. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  9. Johnson, Carolyn Y. (December 6, 2020). "A gamble pays off in 'spectacular success': How the leading coronavirus vaccines made it to the finish line". Washington Post. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  10. Allen, Arthur (November 18, 2020). "Government-Funded Scientists Laid the Groundwork for Billion-Dollar Vaccines". khn.org. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  11. "CYNTHIA TURNER-GRAHAM, M.D. – DISTINGUISHED PSYCHIATRIST". incirclexec.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.

Barney S. Graham publications indexed by Google Scholar

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