Julie E. Ledgerwood is an American

allergist An allergist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies, asthma and the other allergic diseases. They may also be called immunologists. Becoming an allergist Becoming an allergist/immunologist requires completion of at leas ...

and immunologist, who is the chief medical officer and serves as chief of the Clinical Trials Program at the

Vaccine Research Center The Vaccine Research Center (VRC), is an intramural division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The mission of ...

(VRC) of the

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's ...

(NIAID), part of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. She is a

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

. Ledgerwood leads clinical trials and clinical collaborations for the VRC; and has served as principal investigator, protocol chair, or associate investigator for over 60 Phase 1-2b clinical trials studying vaccines and monoclonal antibodies targeting pathogens such as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

Chikungunya Chikungunya is an infection caused by the ''Chikungunya virus'' (CHIKV). Symptoms include fever and joint pains. These typically occur two to twelve days after exposure. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and a ra ...

, and

Zika Zika fever, also known as Zika virus disease or simply Zika, is an infectious disease caused by the Zika virus. Most cases have no symptoms, but when present they are usually mild and can resemble dengue fever. Symptoms may include fever, red ...

in over 13 countries. She led the first human trial aimed at testing a vaccine for

Ebola virus ''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus ''Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and ot ...

and the first evaluation of

mAb114 Ansuvimab, sold under the brand name Ebanga, is a monoclonal antibody medication for the treatment of ''Zaire ebolavirus'' (Ebolavirus) infection. The most common symptoms include fever, tachycardia (fast heart rate), diarrhea, vomiting, hypote ...

, a monoclonal antibody targeting Ebola. For the past 15 years, she has conducted research with numerous academic research teams and has led international vaccine research collaborations. Ledgerwood has authored textbook chapters and over 85 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Education

Ledgerwood graduated from

Phillips University Phillips University was a private university Enid, Oklahoma. It opened in 1906 and closed in 1998. It was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It included an undergraduate college and a graduate seminary. The university wa ...

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

and received her

degree from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at

Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) is a public medical school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It also has a branch campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Founded in 1972, OSU-CHS is part of the Oklahoma State University System. OSU-CHS of ...

Career

From 1999 to 2002, Ledgerwood completed her medical residency in internal medicine at

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (abbreviated JHBMC or Bayview; formerly Francis Scott Key Medical Center and Baltimore City Hospitals) is teaching hospital trauma center, neonatal intensive care unit, geriatrics center, and is home to the Johns ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. In 2002, Ledgerwood joined NIAID as a clinical fellow in allergy and immunology. In 2003, she joined the VRC as a clinical investigator. Ledgerwood is board certified by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. Her work has been covered extensively in lay and scientific media outlets, including

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

References

External links

NIH

*Official laboratory page:http://www.niaid.nih.gov/labsandresources/labs/aboutlabs/vrc/clinicaltrialscorelaboratory/Pages/default.aspx

News Coverage

Ebola

*NBC News coverage, first human trial for Ebola: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/first-human-ebola-vaccine-trial-shows-it-seems-work-n256196 *Interview, “Q&A: Tales from the front lines of vaccine research at the NIH,” from, The DO: http://thedo.osteopathic.org/2013/07/qa-tales-from-the-front-lines-of-vaccine-research-at-the-nih/ *“How to Eradicate Political Panic,” from Politico, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/ebola-health-panic-213094 *Nigeria: Trial Confirms Ebola Vaccine Candidate Safe,” The Guardian, http://allafrica.com/stories/201501080823.html *“Trial sheds light on lower VSV-EBOV doses,” University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/08/news-scan-aug-04-2015 *“Ebola Vaccine Prompts Immune Response,” NIH news release (official), http://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/ebola-vaccine-prompts-immune-response *“Ebola Update: Plasma-based therapy trials begin in West Africa; NIH-GSK vaccine shows promise in Phase 1; the real statistics,” The Scientist, http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/41692/title/Ebola-Update/

Chikungunya

*“Chikungunya is on the move,” Science News, (Society for Science & the Public), https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chikungunya-move *“Experimental Vaccine For Chikungunya Passes First Test,” NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/08/18/341360645/experimental-vaccine-for-chikungunya-passes-first-test *“Could a new vaccine offer protection against chikungunya virus,” Medical News *Today, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/281062.php

Marburg Virus

*“Very Sick, and Now a Curiosity,” arburg coverage The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/health/22virus.html?_r=1

VRC

Vaccine Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledgerwood, Julie American osteopathic physicians 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians American immunologists Oklahoma State University alumni Phillips University alumni American virologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people National Institutes of Health people 21st-century American women scientists