Vaccines have become essential to modern medicine, offering our society herd immunity and completely eradicating certain diseases. Assistant Professor of Biology Workineh Torben, Ph.D., has made valuable contributions to the development of vaccines, in addition to teaching and advising many students who share an interest in public health.
Dr. Torben began his academic journey with a deep interest in microbiology and immunology. Although he is new to our campus, he is already making a significant impact at the school and is currently working on a grant for TAMUT that will award funds to students who do not have the financial means to attend school.
Throughout his career, he has dedicated his time and expertise to several groundbreaking vaccine-related projects, including an HIV vaccine and a vaccine for Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms that harms people worldwide and is second (in terms of impact) only to malaria. (cdc.gov). Dr. Torben has published as an author/co-author of over 34 international high-impact Scientific articles and is waiting for his new manuscript to be published.
He is also preparing to publish data he has collected regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and is “Very interested to see how COVID-19 injury is affecting people.”
“When you repeat the vaccine in a short period of time, it may not be advisable to do that because when our cells are exposed to the same [COVID-19] antigen again and again, they will make a bad antibody that can affect the cellular immune response which will be very important to control the virus,” says Dr. Workineh Torben. He explains that, like most diseases, continuous exposure causes an increase in antibodies. However, the Covid-19 antibody “IG4” inhibits the cellular immune response.
As the world continues to face new infectious disease challenges, the work of Assistant Professor of Biology Workineh Torben, PhD, remains more crucial than ever. His commitment to Biology contributes to the growth and success of life-saving vaccines and inspires and educates the next generation of scientists.
Works cited:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, April 11). CDC – Schistosomiasis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/schistosomiasis/index.html#:~:text=Schistosomiasis%2C%20also%20known%20as%20bilharzia,the%20most%20devastating%20parasitic%20disease.