Robert Alan Seder

Robert Alan Seder, M.D., serves as Senior Investigator and Chief of the Cellular Immunology Section at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. His research program focuses on elucidating cellular and molecular mechanisms of vaccine-induced immunity to develop preventive vaccines against HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and SARS-CoV-2, as well as therapeutic cancer vaccines, with significant clinical translation achievements.

His academic background includes:

• B.A. in Natural Science from Johns Hopkins University (1981)
• M.D. from Tufts University (1986)
• Residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center
• Postdoctoral training at NIAID under Dr. William Paul

Dr. Seder's research centers on T cell and innate immunity, investigating how vaccine platforms, adjuvants, and administration routes influence immune response magnitude, quality, breadth, and tissue distribution. Key discoveries include the critical role of tissue-resident T cells in protection against malaria and tuberculosis, and the development of monoclonal antibodies targeting malaria parasites. His laboratory employs advanced technologies including 30-color flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and confocal imaging.

Recent publications demonstrate breakthroughs in tuberculosis prevention through intravenous BCG immunization, mRNA vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2 including variant boosting strategies, monoclonal antibody prevention of malaria, and systemic cancer vaccination inducing tumor microenvironment remodeling. These studies bridge preclinical models to human clinical trials, emphasizing route-dependent immune correlates and tissue-specific protection mechanisms.

Dr. Seder has led multiple first-in-human clinical trials, including intravenous administration of attenuated malaria vaccines in African populations and the first demonstration of monoclonal antibody prevention of malaria in humans. His laboratory maintains state-of-the-art facilities for immune monitoring and collaborates extensively with academic and industry partners to advance vaccine and monoclonal antibody development against global health threats.