Jesper Pallesen, MBA, Ph.D., Joins The Wistar Institute as Assistant Professor

The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology, and infectious disease, is pleased to announce the recruitment of Jesper Pallesen, MBA, Ph.D., as assistant professor in the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center.

With expertise in the fields of virology, immunobiology, and structural biology, Pallesen uses cryo-electron microscopy; computational modeling; and atomic-level analysis of protein structures to discern the underlying architecture of proteins and viruses — an understanding that is crucial to his goal of developing vaccine-design technology. Pallesen is also interested in better understanding immune system function, including response-triggering signals and the pathogen-clearing process.

Pallesen has a history of collaboration with David B. Weiner, Ph.D., Wistar executive vice president, director of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center, and the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research. Pallesen helped test adaptive immune responses for a Weiner-led DARPA and JPEO-CBRND grant to Wistar focused on advancing potential DMAb countermeasures (DNA vaccines and therapeutics) for the SARS-CoV-2 crisis; their collaboration continues with Weiner’s AIDS vaccine research.

“We are pleased to welcome Jesper to Wistar’s team,” said Dario Altieri, M.D., Wistar president & CEO, director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center and the Robert & Penn Fox Distinguished Professor. “He brings structural biology expertise and a background in highly mutational proteins that complements our continued work in cancer immunotherapy and infectious disease immunotherapeutics. I believe Jesper’s expertise will help us accomplish our aims.”

Pallesen received his Ph.D. degree from Aarhus University. He conducted postdoctoral training at Columbia University and The Scripps Research Institute, where he specialized in cryo-electron microscopy of bio-molecular protein complexes with roles in infectious disease and immunobiology. He has extensive experience as a technical consultant in IP law and received his MBA from the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego, with specialization in statistics, finance, and management.