Dr. Rick Koup, M.D.

Dr. Koup is a Senior Investigator, Chief of the Immunology Laboratory, and Deputy Director of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Koup has spent most of his career studying the protective role of cellular immunity against viral infections. His specific research involves the characterization of T and B cell factors that are involved in protective immunity against HIV and other viruses, to inform the development of vaccines against lethal virus pathogens.

He has published over 400 invited and/or peer-reviewed manuscripts on this and related topics and has mentored 35 graduate and post-graduate students in his career.

He serves as an Editor for PLoS Pathogens and on the editorial boards of several other scientific journals.

Since 2020 he has served in leadership positions advising the US government on efforts to develop and evaluate vaccines against COVID-19.