Academic Affiliation
Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Credentials
PhD, 1990, Duke University
Bio
After a postdoc in yeast genetics and molecular biology, Dr. Sykes began investigating the manipulative power of molecular biology afforded by genetic (DNA) immunization. She has worked toward developing genetic immunization for vaccine candidate discovery in animal models of disease and also as a clinical immunization protocol. She participated in the launching of a biotechnology company in Texas in 2001, which was based on technologies she co-invented with Stephen Johnston. Combining her past experience as director of research in industry and as faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in 2005 she brought a familiarity with goal-oriented science to her program within the Center for Innovations in Medicine at ASU’s Biodesign Institute.
“Our Genomes to vaccines program has two related objectives. The first is to develop a uniform system to mobilize the genomic sequences of pathogens into modern, effective component vaccines. We take advantage of a number of our past innovations including the gene gun, genetic immunization, expression library immunization and linear expression elements. We want to optimize this system to reduce as many pathogen genomes as possible into the genes that encode the best vaccines. Our goal is to do enough of these pathogens that we will discover the rules to predict the best vaccine for any pathogen. The second objective is to develop genetic immunization as a widely used method to deliver vaccines. While many researchers have successfully used gene vaccines in model animals, difficulties have arisen in their application to primates and humans. Our goal is to solve these technical delivery problems and thereby permit this technology to more generally solve the problems associated with vaccine-composition categories such as whole pathogen or protein subunits.”