Erica Ollmann Saphire is an American

structural biologist Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

and immunologist and a professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. She investigates the structural biology of viruses that cause

hemorrhagic fever Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of diseases. "Viral" means a health problem caused by infection from a virus, " hemorrhagic" means to bleed, and "fever" means an unusually high body temperature. Bleeding and fever are comm ...

such as

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after in ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

Bundibugyo Bundibugyo is a town in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. It is the 'chief town' of Bundibugyo District and the district headquarters are located there. Location Bundibugyo is located approximately , by road, west of For ...

, and Lassa. Saphire has served as president and CEO of La Jolla Institute for Immunology since 2021.

Early life and education

Saphire earned a Bachelor of Arts in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

in 1993. While attending Rice University, Saphire avoided taking a

molecular biophysics Molecular biophysics is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. It seeks to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in ter ...

course known for being extremely difficult since she did not want a bad grade that would affect her plans of graduate school. When she finally took the class, she discovered her passion for studying molecular structures such as

antibodies An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as bacteria and viruses, including those that caus ...

and

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

that may cause harm to human health. She then moved to

Scripps Research Scripps Research is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, tec ...

, where she earned a PhD in

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

in 2000. Her doctoral research focused on the crystal structure of a neutralizing antibody against

HIV-1 The subtypes of HIV include two main subtypes, known as HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV type 2 (HIV-2). These subtypes have distinct genetic differences and are associated with different epidemiological patterns and clinical characteristics. HIV-1 e ...

. She was an avid

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

player throughout college and graduate school, and toured twice with the

United States women's national rugby union team The USA Women's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Women's Eagles, represents the United States in women's international rugby union. The team was officially formed in 1987 and is nicknamed the Eagles. An international powerhouse durin ...

Career and research

After an immunology postdoctoral fellowship at

, Saphire joined the faculty in the department of immunology as an assistant professor in 2003. She was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and full professor in 2012. In 2019, joined the faculty at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. Saphire solved the first structure of the entire human

IgG Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is a type of antibody. Representing approximately 75% of serum antibodies in humans, IgG is the most common type of antibody found in blood circulation. IgG molecules are created and released by plasma B cells. Each IgG ant ...

. The hexameric array predicted the assembly by which IgG could recruit

C1q The complement component 1q (or simply C1q) is a protein complex involved in the complement system, which is part of the innate immune system. C1q together with C1r and C1s form the C1 complex. Antibodies of the adaptive immune system can bi ...

and launch the

complement cascade The complement system, also known as complement cascade, is a part of the humoral, innate immune system and enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promote inf ...

, which Saphire confirmed by obtaining the

cryoEM Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a transmission electron microscopy technique applied to samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of phases of ice#Cry ...

structure of the C1q-IgG complex and hexameric IgG preparations. Saphire is best known for her research on

Ebola virus ''Orthoebolavirus zairense'' or Zaire ebolavirus, more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus ''Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal vira ...

and other causes of

viral hemorrhagic fever Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of diseases. "Viral" means a health problem caused by infection from a virus, " hemorrhagic" means to bleed, and "fever" means an unusually high body temperature. Bleeding and fever are comm ...

. She was the first to discover the structure of the Ebola virus surface

glycoprotein Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide (sugar) chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known a ...

and predicted that the Ebola virus receptor was located in the

endosome Endosomes are a collection of intracellular sorting organelles in eukaryotic cells. They are parts of the endocytic membrane transport pathway originating from the trans Golgi network. Molecules or ligands internalized from the plasma membra ...

rather than on the cell surface. Later, she showed that the Ebola virus

VP40 In molecular biology, VP40 is the name of a viral matrix protein. Most commonly, it is found in the ''Ebola virus'' (EBOV), a type of non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus. Ebola virus causes a severe and often fatal Viral hemorrhagic fever, ...

matrix protein Viral matrix proteins are structural proteins linking the viral envelope with the virus core. They play a crucial role in virus assembly, and interact with the RNP complex as well as with the viral membrane. They are found in many enveloped viru ...

can fold into multiple distinct structures. In 2024, Saphire used in situ

cryo-electron tomography Cryogenic electron tomography (cryoET) is an imaging technique used to reconstruct high-resolution (~1–4 nm) three-dimensional volumes of samples, often (but not limited to) biological macromolecules and cells. cryoET is a specialized appl ...

to illuminate Ebola virus replication factories inside living cells revealing a hitherto unresolved third and outer layer of the

nucleoprotein Nucleoproteins are proteins conjugated with nucleic acids (either DNA or RNA). Typical nucleoproteins include ribosomes, nucleosomes and viral nucleocapsid proteins. Structures Nucleoproteins tend to be positively charged, facilitating inte ...

. Her laboratory has also discovered the structure of the glycoproteins of Sudan virus,

Marburg virus Marburg virus (MARV) is a hemorrhagic fever virus of the '' Filoviridae'' family of viruses and a member of the species '' Marburg marburgvirus'', genus '' Marburgvirus''. It causes Marburg virus disease in primates, a form of viral hemorrhag ...

Bundibugyo virus The species ''Bundibugyo ebolavirus'' ( ) is the taxonomic home of one virus, Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), that forms filamentous virions and is closely related to the infamous Ebola virus (EBOV). The virus causes severe disease in humans in the form ...

Lassa virus Lassa virus (LASV) is an Arenaviridae, arenavirus that causes Lassa hemorrhagic fever, a type of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), in humans and other primates. Lassa virus is an Emerging infectious disease, emerging virus and a select agent, requi ...

and

LCMV Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) is a rodent-borne viral infectious disease that presents as aseptic meningitis, encephalitis or meningoencephalitis. Its causative agent is lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), a member of the family ''Ar ...

. On field work in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

, she followed rodents to study how they spread viruses such as Ebola and Lassa. Saphire attracted national media attention in 2014 when she launched a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

appeal to raise funds for equipment to assist in research to fight Ebola virus. In recent work, Saphire determined the

cryo-electron microscopy Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a transmission electron microscopy technique applied to samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An ...

structure of the

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

virus

fusion protein Fusion proteins or chimeric (kī-ˈmir-ik) proteins (literally, made of parts from different sources) are proteins created through the joining of two or more genes that originally coded for separate proteins. Translation of this '' fusion gene'' ...

in complex with an antibody and determined that the antibody can trap the fusion protein in an intermediate state, thus halting fusion. Saphire directs the

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of diseases. "Viral" means a health problem caused by infection from a virus, " hemorrhagic" means to bleed, and "fever" means an unusually high body temperature. Bleeding and fever are comm ...

Immunotherapeutic Consortium (VIC) and is a strong advocate for strategic collaborations to rapidly develop treatments for Ebola and other severe threats. In 2020, Saphire was named director of the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC), an international effort to evaluate human antibodies against the novel coronavirus,

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

. Her lab also co-led research into COVID-19 mutations with scientists at the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

. Saphire is also spearheading "America's SHIELD:Strategic Herpesvirus Immune Evasion and Latency Defense" as part of ARPA-H'
Antigens Predicted for Broad Viral Efficacy through Computational Experimentation (APECx)
program. In 2021, Saphire was appointed president and CEO of La Jolla Institute for Immunology. She succeeded Dr. Mitchell Kronenberg, who had served as institute president since 2003. Saphire is the institute's fifth president and is the first woman to serve in that role.

Awards

Saphire received the

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. T ...

and the

Global Virus Network The Global Virus Network (GVN) is an international coalition of medical virologists whose goal is to help the international medical community by improving the detection and management of viral diseases. The network was founded in 2011 by Robert Ga ...

's Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership. She received the

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906, at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel (Johns Hopkins University). The roots of the society were in the American Ph ...

's Young Investigator Award in 2015, th
Pantheon Award
for Academia, Non-Profit, & Research in 2023, th
Marion Spencer Fay Award
in 2023 an
the Bert & Natalie Vallee Award
in Biomedical Science (2023).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saphire, Erica Ollmann Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Structural biologists American molecular biologists American immunologists Rice University alumni Scripps Research faculty American women immunologists 21st-century American biologists 21st-century American women scientists Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers