Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Florian Krammer, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
- Second opponent: Head of Section, Senior Scientist Karoline Bragstad, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Anne Spurkland, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Emeritus Inger Sandlie, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Emeritus Bjarne Bogen (principal supervisor from 01.06.2018 to 18.01.2021), University of Oslo
Researcher Gunnveig Grødeland (principal supervisor from 18.01.2021), University of Oslo
Summary
Influenza is a rapidly evolving pathogen that can mutate to escape pre-formed immunity. Therefore, this thesis aimed to develop a novel vaccine that could raise broad, protective immune responses against conserved antigenic regions shared between different viruses.
We developed DNA vaccines that encoded hemagglutinin (HA) surface proteins from multiple influenza subtypes. The vaccines were designed so that each vaccine molecule could display two different HAs bivalently. Bivalency might elicit broadly reactive antibody responses by enhanced receptor cross-linking and activation of B cells specific for epitopes that are conserved on several HA subtypes. The vaccine proteins were targeted directly to antigen presenting cells (APC) for increased immunogenicity.
The vaccines induced cross-reactive antibodies, T cells, and cross-protection in mice. The broad cross-reactivity indicated specificity for conserved epitopes. Targeting chemokine receptors on APCs was particularly efficient in protecting against lethal infection with human and avian influenza viruses.
The results represent a novel universal vaccine strategy against influenza. The findings are also relevant to vaccine development against other rapidly evolving pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.