# Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster Associate Professor ![Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster](/sites/g/files/omnuum5516/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2026-08/pablo.jpg?itok=K-KsrafU) location\_on Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Ctr. for Virology & Vaccine Research: E / CLS-1003 Boston MA 02115 smartphone [617-735-4450](tel:617-735-4450) email laptop\_windows [Lab website](https://cvvr.hms.harvard.edu/lab/penaloza-macmaster/) laptop\_windows [Publications](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Pablo+Penaloza-MacMaster&sort=date) The Penaloza-MacMaster Laboratory Viral pandemics remain an enduring threat to humanity. The Penaloza-MacMaster Laboratory is dedicated to developing innovative strategies to prevent or treat viral infections, integrating fundamental immunology with translational applications. In 2016, he started his own laboratory at Northwestern University, leading multiple studies aimed at enhancing immunotherapies and vaccines. His laboratory was the first to show that lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the microbiome, enhances PD-1 blockade therapy for chronic infection (Wang, PLOS Pathogens, 2019). His group also demonstrated that transient IFN-I blockade improves the efficacy of viral vaccines, including those against yellow fever virus, HIV-1, and coronaviruses (Palacio, 2020), and during the COVID-19 pandemic, his work expanded to coronavirus vaccines. His group showed that incorporating both spike and nucleocapsid antigens provides broader protection than spike-only vaccines (Dangi, Cell Reports, 2021) and identified nucleocapsid as a promising target for monoclonal antibody therapy (Dangi, JCI, 2022). His lab also demonstrated that a low-dose priming approach enhances adaptive immune responses compared to standard-dose vaccination (Sanchez, Science Immunology, 2021). His laboratory also showed that a SARS-CoV-1 vaccine developed back in 2004 provided cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2 (Dangi, JCI, 2021), reinforcing the feasibility of developing pan-coronavirus vaccines targeting whole coronavirus subgenera. Building on two recent studies (Dangi, Cell Reports, 2023; and Sanchez, JCI, 2024), the laboratory aims to determine whether transient modulation of antibody effector functions and costimulation can improve the efficacy of viral vaccines, including those against coronaviruses and HIV-1. The laboratory has also extended its expertise in viral immunology toward the development of novel cancer therapies, focusing on the immunostimulatory effects of arenaviruses (Chung, JCI, 2024). In that work, the laboratory demonstrated potent antitumoral effects of LCMV in mice, leading to a funded R01 to evaluate this virus in a clinical trial in companion dogs with malignant tumors. In addition to his research, Dr. Penaloza-MacMaster is deeply dedicated to education. Since 2017, he has taught several graduate-level courses to Ph.D. students and served on multiple thesis committees. He is an Associate Editor at JCI and a Standing Member of the Immune Host Defense (IHD) study section at the NIH. He is also committed to advocating for science and evidence-based policy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as a Task Force Advisor to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director on vaccines. He also served on the Education Committee of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and has been an AAI Capitol Hill Advocate, meeting with members of Congress to support increased NIH funding for biomedical research. In 2025, Dr. Penaloza-MacMaster relocated his laboratory to the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research (CVVR) at BIDMC. - ## Person [Faculty](/people/person/faculty)