Kong Lab | NYU Langone Health

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Kong Lab

Our research focuses on utilizing structure-based immunogen design to discover potential HIV-1 vaccines and develop immunotherapies for other targets.

HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic, and the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine is one of the most pressing challenges for biomolecular medicine. In a reverse engineering strategy of vaccine discovery, broadly reactive human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are identified and their structures, in complex with their cognate epitopes, are determined in order to provide information for engrafting the epitopes onto scaffolds and using them as immunogens which may be able to elicit antibodies with a breadth of neutralizing activity similar to that displayed by the broadly reactive mAbs. Thus, 3D visualization of the cognate HIV epitopes of broadly neutralizing anti-HIV mAbs targeted at immunogenic epitopes is crucial for designing immunogens that induce cross-reactive polyclonal antibody responses in mammals.

Investigators in NYU Langone’s Kong Lab have worked synergistically with a team of immunologists, vaccinologists, and computational biologists, and we have determined crystal structures of a large panel of anti-HIV 1 mAbs. Our structures of anti-V3 mAbs not only revealed the structural basis explaining why some anti-V3 mAbs are broadly reactive, but also have allowed us to identify conserved structural elements the V3 crown. These conserved structural elements have laid the foundation for designing V3 immunogens for HIV candidate vaccines.

Available Positions

We welcome enthusiastic scientists and students to join our team. Please email Dr. Kong at xiangpeng.kong@nyulangone.org to inquire about available positions for postdocs, PhD students, or technicians.

Contact Us

Xiangpeng Kong, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
550 First Avenue
Medical Science Building 398
New York, NY 10016
Office Phone: 212-263-7897
Lab Phone: 212-263-7898
Email: xiangpeng.kong@nyulangone.org