About The Speaker
Laura Walker
Head of Infectious Disease Biotherapeutic Discovery and Engineering at Moderna
Laura Walker
Laura Walker, Ph.D., is the head of infectious disease biotherapeutic discovery and engineering at Moderna.Upon completion of her doctoral training, she served as Sr. Director of Antibody Sciences at Adimab,where she and her team studied human antibody responses to a wide variety of emerging viral pathogens, including Ebola, Zika, yellow fever, and SARS-CoV-2. In 2020, Dr. Walker became a co-founder and CSO of Adagio Therapeutics, where she oversaw a broad portfolio of research in the area of viral immunology, including the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies to influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Laura earned her Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology at The Scripps Research Institute in 2012 under the mentorship of Dennis R. Burton.
Abstract: mRNA-based delivery of engineered antibodies to combat SARS-CoV-2
Monoclonal antibodies have shown remarkable efficacy in the treatment and prevention of multiple viral diseases. However, traditional CHO-based manufacturing constraints have limited the pace of antibody development and the formats that can be expressed. In this presentation, I’ll discuss the use of mRNA technology to rapidly express engineered antibodies with high potency, breadth, and resilience to escape.