Cynthia Nau Cornelissen, a Distinguished University Professor and associate director at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has been awarded nearly $7 million in federal funding to advance research on sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The grants, both five-year awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will support efforts to develop vaccines and therapeutics targeting Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium responsible for gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea remains a significant public health concern due to its increasing resistance to existing drugs and the lack of an available vaccine. Researchers say this has made it an urgent threat and highlighted the need for new treatment options.
Cornelissen’s previous studies have examined how conserved outer membrane transport proteins in N. gonorrhoeae function during infection. Her team discovered that these proteins not only aid in nutrient acquisition but also bind to specific sugar residues on host cells, which may play a role in infection beyond previously known mechanisms.
One grant totaling $3.4 million will focus on understanding how N. gonorrhoeae acquires nutrients and interacts with sugars in human hosts. According to Cornelissen, “The recent observations of outer membrane transporters suggest these proteins have unrecognized virulence functions, which could be exploited to prevent or treat infections with an urgent threat pathogen.”
The second grant, valued at $3.3 million, will fund testing of an innovative outer membrane vesicle (OMV)-based vaccine designed to protect against pathogenic Neisseriae species using transgenic mice models. OMV-based vaccines have demonstrated potential by eliciting immune responses effective against N. meningitidis and offering some cross-protection against N. gonorrhoeae. This project aims to target essential nutrient acquisition systems as part of developing a vaccine that could provide broad protection against both major pathogenic Neisseria species.
Cornelissen stated, “This project will target essential nutrient acquisition systems to develop an efficacious vaccine to cross-protect against both pathogenic Neisseria species.” The study will use advanced humanized models of infection to assess how metal transport systems contribute to virulence and their suitability as targets for a pan-Neisseria vaccine.
Cornelissen serves as director of the Center for Translational Immunology at Georgia State University’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences.
