About

Dr. Poston is a scientist specializing in the field of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

His research focuses on the adaptive immune response and pathogenesis of Chlamydia infection with the goal of developing an effective subunit vaccine. Dr. Poston’s work integrates findings from murine infection models, longitudinal human studies, and pre-clinical vaccine testing to distinguish mechanisms that drive protective immunity from those that cause tissue-damaging pathology.

Key Research Areas:

• Subunit vaccine development: His research focuses on testing subunit vaccines using recombinant proteins, viral vectors, and nucleic acid platforms. A primary focus is a novel antigen-adjuvant conjugate vaccine, which covalently attaches a Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) agonist to the Chlamydial Protease-like Activity Factor (CPAF) antigen to enhance vaccine delivery and immunogenicity. His work also explores clinically relevant formulations and modalities like lipid nanoparticles to further improve vaccine efficacy.

• T cell immunity & Chlamydia infection model: Dr. Poston’s research investigates CD4 T cell phenotypes and mechanisms involved in clearing and preventing Chlamydia infection. His research utilizes the TP-1 TCR-transgenic mouse model to track the adaptive T cell response to identify specific requirements and signatures for long-term T cell memory. Using Collaborative Cross (CC) mice, his work has further established novel infection models that mirror the clinical diversity of human disease, allowing for the investigation of how vaccination and host genetics influences the course of genital infection and development of oviduct pathology.

As the project lead for the Chlamydia Vaccine Initiative (CVI), Dr. Poston is committed to the intersection of basic science and clinical application and aims to bridge the gap between molecular mechanisms and human disease. His expertise in translational vaccine development targets the complex pathology of Chlamydia, with the goal of preventing the chronic inflammatory damage and infertility associated with this infection. By leveraging advanced mouse models to study tissue-specific mucosal immune responses, his research provides a sophisticated platform to explore how fundamental biological discoveries can be translated into medical interventions. His research does not merely observe disease but actively seeks to modulate the host-pathogen interface through innovative vaccine strategies.