Jesper Pallesen

Jesper Pallesen, MBA, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Professor in the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center at The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology, and infectious disease.

Dr. Pallesen received his Ph.D. from Aarhus University followed by postdoctoral training at Columbia University and The Scripps Research Institute, where he specialized in cryo-electron microscopy of bio-molecular protein complexes relating to infectious disease and immunobiology. He also holds an MBA from Rady School of Management at UC San Diego with specialization in statistics, finance and management, along with extensive experience as a technical consultant in IP law.

His research integrates structural biology with vaccine development, focusing on atomic-level analysis of viral proteins to develop novel vaccine-design technologies. Pallesen's laboratory employs cryo-electron microscopy and computational modeling to study highly mutable pathogens including HIV, Ebola, and coronaviruses, with particular emphasis on understanding immune system function, response-triggering signals, and pathogen-clearing processes. His work bridges fundamental structural insights with practical immunotherapeutic applications for both infectious diseases and cancer.

Dr. Pallesen has established significant collaborations with David B. Weiner, Ph.D., Wistar executive vice president and director of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center, including work on a DARPA and JPEO-CBRND grant focused on DNA-based countermeasures for SARS-CoV-2 and ongoing AIDS vaccine research. His publication record demonstrates expertise in structural analysis of viral envelope proteins critical for vaccine design.