Matthew B. Laurens

Matthew B. Laurens is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute for Global Health. He holds additional roles as Director of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program, Director of the Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium (TyVAC), and Director of the International Clinical Trials Unit at the Malaria Research Program. His primary research focuses on malaria, typhoid fever, and vaccines for diseases affecting resource-limited populations. He leads studies in collaboration with global partners in Burkina Faso, Mali, Malawi, and Uganda.

Education: Oglethorpe University (B.S., Biology, 1992), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (MPH, 1996), Mercer University School of Medicine (M.D., 2001). Postgraduate training includes pediatrics residency and chief residency at Tulane, followed by a pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Maryland.

Research interests include vaccine development, immune responses to vaccination, antimalarial immunity, and HIV-malaria coinfection. His work emphasizes translational studies, clinical trials, and global health partnerships. Over 110 publications span malaria and typhoid vaccine efficacy, vaccine safety in HIV-exposed populations, and immunogenomic studies.

Awards include the Bailey K. Ashford Medal (2023), Fellowships from the IDSA and PIDSS (2023-2024), and recognition for mentorship and pandemic response. He serves on advisory boards for the NIH, WHO, and vaccine consortia, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Key contributions include advancing typhoid conjugate vaccines, demonstrating PfSPZ-CVac efficacy in malaria, and evaluating vaccine co-administration strategies. Current initiatives focus on human challenge studies (HIC-Vac) and malaria vaccine development through the PfSPZ Program.