Eva Harris, PhD
- Director, Center for Global Public Health
- Program Head, Infectious Diseases and Immunity PhD Program
- President, Sustainable Sciences Institute
Biography
Dr. Eva Harris is a Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Director of the Center for Global Public Health, and Chair of the Infectious Diseases and Immunity Graduate Group in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. She has developed a multidisciplinary approach to study the molecular virology, pathogenesis, immunology, epidemiology, diagnostics, clinical aspects and control of dengue, Zika and chikungunya, the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral diseases in humans.
Her work addresses immune correlates of protection and pathogenesis, viral and host factors that modulate disease severity, and virus replication and evolution, using in vitro approaches, animal models, and research involving human populations. One major focus is on studies of arboviral disease in humans, including antibody and B cell responses and correlates of protection, systems immunology profiling of the innate response, diagnostics and seroprevalence studies, and viral evolution, fitness, and intrahost diversity. Another focus is viral pathogenesis, specifically the role of flavivirus NS1 protein in endothelial permeability, vascular leak, and viral dissemination. Recently, she extended this approach to new studies on COVID-19 pathogenesis, therapeutics, epidemiology and seroprevalence both locally and internationally. Her international work focuses on laboratory-based and epidemiological studies of dengue, chikungunya, Zika, as well as influenza and COVID-19, in endemic Latin American countries, particularly in Nicaragua through close collaborations for over 30 years. Ongoing projects in Nicaragua include clinical and biological studies of severe dengue, a pediatric cohort study and household transmission studies of dengue, Zika, chikungunya in Managua.
Dr. Harris has published over 330 peer-reviewed articles, as well as a book on her international scientific work. In 1997, she received a MacArthur Award for work over the previous ten years developing programs to build scientific capacity in developing countries to address public health and infectious disease issues. This enabled her to found a non-profit organization in 1998, Sustainable Sciences Institute (SSI), with offices in San Francisco and Nicaragua to continue and expand this work worldwide.
Research Interests
- Molecular virology, pathogenesis, immunology, epidemiology, clinical aspects and control of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya
- Epidemiology of influenza and COVID-19 in tropical countries
- Scientific capacity building in developing countries
Education
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PhD – Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley, 1993 -
BA – Biochemical Sciences
Harvard University, 1987
Publications
- View Selected Publications
Dias Jr, A.G., Atyeo, C., Loos, C., Montoya, M., Roy, V., Bos, S., Narvekar, P., Singh, T., Katzelnick, L., Kuan, G., Lauffenburger , D. A., Balmaseda, A., Alter, G., Harris, E. (2022) Antibody Fc characteristics and effector functions correlate with protection from symptomatic dengue virus type 3 infection. Sci. Transl. Med. 14:eabm3151.
Biering, S.B.*, Tramontini Gomes de Sousa, F.*, Tjang, L., Pahmeier, F., Ruan, R., Blanc, S.F., Patel, T., Glasner, D.R., Castillo-Rojas, B., Servellita, V., Lo, N.T.N., Wong, M.P., Warnes, C.M., Sandoval, D.R., Clausen, T.M., Santos, Y.M., Ortega, V., Aguilar, H.C., Esko, J.D., Chui, C., Pak, J.E., Beatty, P.R., Harris, E. (2022) SARS-CoV-2 Spike triggers barrier dysfunction and vascular leak via integrins and TGF-b signaling. Nat. Comm. In revision. bioRxiv 2021.12.10.472112
Puerta-Guardo, H., Biering, S.B., Tramontini Gomes de Sousa, F., Shu, J., Glasner, D.R., Li, J., Blanc, S.F., Beatty, P.R., Harris, E. (2022) Flavivirus NS1 triggers tissue-specific disassembly of intercellular junctions leading to barrier dysfunction and vascular leak in a GSK-3β-dependent manner. Pathogens, 11:615.
Biering, S.B., Akey, D., Wong, M.P., Brown, W.C., Lo, N.T.N., Puerta-Guardo, H., Tramontini Gomes de Sousa, F., Wang, C., Konwerski, J.R., Espinosa, D.A., Bockhaus, N.J., Glasner, D.R., Li, J., Blanc, S.F., Juan, E.Y., Elledge, S.J., Mina, M.J., Beatty, P.R., Smith, J.L., Harris, E. (2021) Structural basis for antibody-mediated inhibition of dengue virus NS1-triggered endothelial dysfunction and vascular leak. Science. 371:194–200.
Katzelnick, L.C., Zambrana, J.V., Elizondo, D., Collado, D., Collado, D., Garcia, N., Arguello, S., Mercado, J.C., Miranda, T., Ampie, O., Lopez Mercado, B.,Narvaez, C., Gresh, L., Binder, R.A., Ojeda, S., Sanchez, N., Plazaola, M., Latta, K., Schiller, A., Coloma, J., Bustos Carillo, F., Narvaez, F., Halloran, M.E., Gordon, A., Kuan, G., Balmaseda, A., Harris, E. (2021) Long-term dynamics of protective and enhancing antibodies after dengue and Zika virus infection. Sci. Transl. Med. 13(614): eabg9478.
Katzelnick, L.C., Narvaez, C., Arguello, S., Lopez Mercado, B., Collado, D., Ampie, O., Elizondo, D., Miranda, T., Bustos Carillo, F., Mercado, J.C., Latta, K., Schiller, A., Segovia-Chumbez, B., Ojeda, S., Sanchez, N., Plazaola, M., Coloma, J., Halloran, M.E., Premkumar, L., Gordon, A., Narvaez, F., De Silva, A.M., Kuan, G., Balmaseda, A., Harris, E. (2020) Zika virus infection enhances future risk of severe dengue disease. Science. 369:1123-1128. PMC8274975
Andrade, P., Narvekar, P., Montoya, M., Michlmayr, D., Balmaseda, A., Coloma, J., Harris, E. (2020) Primary and secondary dengue virus infections elicit similar memory B cell responses but breadth to other serotypes and cross-reactivity to Zika virus is higher in secondary dengue. J. Infect. Dis. 222:590-600. PMID: 32193549
Puerta-Guardo, H., Glasner, D.R., Espinosa, D.A., Biering, S.B., Patana, M., Ratnasiri, K., Wang, C., Beatty, P.R., and Harris, E. (2019) Flavivirus NS1 triggers tissue-specific vascular endothelial dysfunction reflecting disease tropism. Cell Rep. 26(6):1598-1613.e8. PMC6934012
Andrade, P., Gimblet-Ochieng, C., Modirian, F., Collins, M., Cárdenas, M., Katzelnick, L., Montoya, M., Michlmayr, D., Kuan, G., Balmaseda, A., Coloma, J., de Silva, A., Harris, E. (2019) Impact of pre-existing dengue immunity on human antibody and memory B cell responses to Zika. Nat. Commun. 10(1):938.
Katzelnick, L. Gresh, L, Halloran, M.E., Mercado, J.C., Kuan, G., Gordon, A., Balmaseda, A., and Harris, E. (2017) Antibody-dependent enhancement of severe dengue disease in humans. Science. 358:929-32. PMC5858873
Burger-Calderon, R.*, Bustos Carillo, F.*, Gresh, L.*, Ojeda, S., Sanchez, N., Plazaola, M., Katzelnick, L., Mercado, B.L., Monterrey, J.C., Elizondo, D., Arguello, S., Nuñez, A., Gordon, A., Balmaseda, Z., Kuan, G., Harris, E. (2019) Age-dependent manifestations and case definitions of pediatric Zika: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Infect. Dis. 20(3):371-380. PMC7085943
Parameswaran, P., Wang, C., Trivedi, S.B., Eswarappa, M., Montoya, M., Balmaseda, A., and Harris, E. (2017) Intrahost selection pressures drive rapid dengue virus microevolution in acute human infections. Cell Host Microbe. 22(3):400-410.e5.
Andersson, N., Nava-Aguilera, E., Arostegui, J., Morales-Perez, A., Suazo-Laguna, H., Legorreta-Soberanis, J., Hernandez-Alvarez, C., Fernandez-Salas, I., Balmaseda, A., Cortés-Guzmán, A.J., Coloma, J., Ledogar, R.J., and Harris, E. (2015) Camino Verde (Green Way) to Dengue Prevention: a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial of evidence-based community mobilisation in Nicaragua and Mexico. BMJ 351:h3267.
Courses Taught
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- Fall | PH265
- Molecular Parasitology
- Spring | PH260F
- Infectious Disease Research in Developing Countries
- Spring | PH292/3
- Doctoral Research Seminar
- Fall | PH162A
- Public Health Microbiology