Jennifer Maynard

Professor Maynard received an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and post-doctoral studies at Stanford University before returning to UT Austin as faculty in 2007. Her research group aims to develop advanced antibody therapeutics to treat/ prevent infectious diseases, using a combination of biological and engineering principles. The antibody which served as the focus of her doctoral work was subsequently licensed and developed as AnthimTM and received FDA approval to prevent anthrax in humans in 2016. Her group showed that a pair of antibodies they engineered to prevent and treat pertussis were highly protective in adolescent and neonatal baboon models of disease and earned Orphan Drug Designation. Her group helped design a super-stable COVID-19 spike variant (HexaPro) while has entered clinical trials as part of several novel vaccines. On-going work includes design of improved pertussis vaccines and therapeutics targeting cytomegalovirus.