Overview

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a highly contagious pathogen spread through bodily fluids, usually saliva. EBV is one of the most common human viruses in the world, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

EBV is a member of the herpesvirus family and a close relative of cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella zoster virus (which causes chickenpox and shingles), and herpes simplex virus (commonly called herpes). 

EBV infection may cause mild symptoms or no symptoms at all; however, the virus can cause severe illness in some patients. EBV infection can cause a disease called mononucleosis (“mono”) where patients may experience debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, fever, rash, and sore throat for weeks or even months. EBV infection is also linked to the development of multiple sclerosis, inflammation of the heart muscles and brain, and is implicated in gastric cancers and multiple forms of lymphoma. 

There is no specific treatment for EBV infection. There are also no approved vaccines against EBV, but cutting-edge research is underway to develop vaccines to protect against EBV and related herpesviruses.

Our approach

Researchers in the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) Center for Vaccine Innovation are dedicated to guiding the development of EBV therapies and vaccines.

LJI Professor Chris Benedict, Ph.D., has led groundbreaking research to understand how EBV, CMV, and other herpesviruses manage to evade the immune system and remain in the body for decades. His work has helped reveal how these viruses use molecular “smoke screens” to hide from immune cells. His recent findings on CMV infection suggest future herpesvirus vaccines might enlist a subset of T cells to better fight initial infection.

In 2024, LJI scientists were awarded up to $49 million from the U.S. Government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The LJI scientists will lead a national team to develop life-saving vaccines against a broad array of herpesviruses, including EBV.

The new LJI project is called America’s SHIELD: Strategic Herpesvirus Immune Evasion and Latency Defense. It is led by LJI Professor, President & CEO Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., and includes Dr. Benedict, LJI Professor Alessandro Sette, Dr.Bio.Sci., and LJI Professor and Chief Scientific Officer Shane Crotty, Ph.D., as well as leading immune system experts from institutions across the United States.

For the project, LJI scientists will use advanced cryo-electron microscopes to image multiple herpesvirus targets in high resolution. Their goal is to uncover multiple weak points on herpesviruses that are vulnerable to attack by immune cells and exploit these Achilles’ heels to provide protection against an array of herpesviruses.

With these insights, the LJI-led team can deliver broadly applicable vaccines and assemble a computational “toolkit” to help fellow scientists target EBV and many other viruses.

Learn more:

LJI Center for Vaccine Innovation

LJI launches “America’s SHIELD” to develop life-saving herpesvirus vaccines