Jonathan Wilson Yewdell

Dr. Jonathan Wilson Yewdell, M.D., Ph.D., is a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Cellular Biology Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Main Campus, within the Laboratory of Viral Diseases under the Division of Intramural Research at NIAID. His work focuses on host-virus interactions, particularly mechanisms of MHC class I peptide generation, non-canonical protein translation, and immunodominance in B-cell responses to influenza and coronaviruses.

• Education: A.B. in Biochemistry, Princeton University (1975); M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology, University of Pennsylvania (1981)

Research Interests: The Yewdell lab investigates how viruses interact with host immune systems, emphasizing antigen processing, viral protein evolution, and immune response hierarchies. Key areas include defective ribosomal products (DRiPs) in antigen presentation, ribosome regulation of immunosurveillance, and strategies to overcome immunodominance in vaccine design.

Publication Trends: Recent work spans ribosome biology (2024), transcription factor roles in gut immunity (2024), and genomic approaches to MHC-restricted immunosurveillance (2021). Earlier studies established frameworks for influenza antibody responses (2019) and viral antigen presentation (2017-2008).

Laboratory: The Cellular Biology Section employs viruses as tools to dissect cellular processes, particularly those involving MHC class I antigen presentation, ribosome function, and immune evasion mechanisms in cancers and viral infections.