Charged: Stories from the Women Leading Health Care: A Systems Approach to Vaccine Design with Dr. Galit Alter

Charged: Stories from the Women Leading Health Care

How do you truly connect with others and lead with empathy? Why is heart disease different for women? What can we do to make addiction treatment more accessible and more successful? How can you maintain the balance between rising in your field and taking care of your family? Charged, a new podcast from Mass General, is devoted to answering these questions and many more. We’ll be uncovering the stories of the relentless daily pursuit to break boundaries and provide exceptional care. In each episode, you’ll hear from the passionate and talented women of Mass General, who are leading the charge on some of the most significant innovations in health care today.

A Systems Approach to Vaccine Design with Dr. Galit Alter

Apr 28, 2021

When Galit Alter, PhD, immunologist and virologist, began her career during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis, there were few researchers who were studying the immune system in the context of infectious diseases. She quickly became curious about how the human immune system fights different viruses and how uncovering this knowledge could significantly impact the way vaccines are developed.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Alter, a self-described "virus hunter," talks about the mechanisms by which the immune system fights disease, how she and her team created a novel serology tool that profiles the body's antibody response to both viruses and vaccines, and how this tool was employed during the COVID-19 pandemic.