Jesper Pallesen

Jesper Pallesen is an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry at IU Bloomington. His research program comprises studies of the human immune response to pathogens such as coronaviruses, HIV and various types of cancer. He has accumulated state-of-the-art expertise in the fields of virology, immunobiology and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). His expertise is designing and implementing projects to determine the atomic-resolution structure and function information of conformationally flexible protein complexes that constitute the basis for vaccine and immunotherapeutic applications. He can discuss all aspects of cryo-EM data collection and treatment, atomic model building/refinement and in-silico molecular dynamics simulations. He recently determined the atomic-resolution fusion-intermediate structures of the challenging “moving-target” specimens HIV-1 Env, Influenza H7 HA and MERS S through this method. He is able to apply his advanced methodology in even more challenging contexts of conformational heterogeneity and in-situ structure determination. Additionally, his expertise includes both nucleic acid and protein biochemistry, biophysics and expression/purification techniques. With an MBA degree in finance and leadership/management, he can offer perspectives on project and personnel administration, and his detailed knowledge of IP law provides a strong foundation for identifying and developing patentable technologies.

Areas of Expertise

MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, HIV, HIV-1, retrovirus, Ebola, filovirus, immunology, structural biology, virology, vaccinology, cryo-electron microscopy.