Jason McLellan

Professor
Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry

Molecular Biosciences
Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Graduate Programs

jmclellan@austin.utexas.edu

NHB

4.342

McLellan Lab

Biography

Jason McLellan is a professor of molecular biosciences and the Welch Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin. He researches viral and bacterial proteins, and his work to understand how these proteins are structured and how they function has factored into the development of vaccines and potential treatments for deadly pathogens that have impacted the lives of billions of people. As an inventor of a method for engineering key proteins in coronaviruses and respiratory viruses for use in vaccines, McLellan has been key in the development of technologies found in many leading vaccines against COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a virus especially dangerous for young children and seniors. He is the winner of multiple scientific awards, including the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology, the Park MahnHoon Award, the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Medicine, the Golden Goose Award, the William Prusoff Memorial Award and the Viruses Young Investigator in Virology Prize. His research and expertise have been featured in multiple media outlets including CNN, Fox News, USA Today, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post and National Geographic. Dr. McLellan earned a B.S. in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from Wayne State University and his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health’s Vaccine Research Center. He previously served on the faculty at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Research

The human body is under constant attack from bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses, all of which express proteins that are needed to establish infection and evade the human immune system. The McLellan Lab seeks to obtain structural information on these proteins and their interactions with host macromolecules and translate this knowledge into the rational development of therapeutic interventions such as small-molecule inhibitors, protective antibodies and stabilized vaccine immunogens. These efforts are highly collaborative and involve domestic and international investigators from academia, government, and industry.

Research Areas

Vaccines and/or Therapeutics
Biophysics or Structural Biology
Infectious Disease, Immunology and Microbiology

Fields of Interest

Structural Biology and Biophysics
Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease

Centers and Institutes

John Ring LaMontagne Center for Infectious Disease

Education

Postdoctoral research, National Institutes of Health's Vaccine Research Center
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
B.S., Wayne State University

Publications

Select recent publications:
CCHFV Survivors Elicit Protective Non-Neutralizing Antibodies that Target 11 Overlapping Regions on Glycoprotein GP38
Shin OS*, Monticelli SR*, Hjorth CK*, Hornet V, Doyle M, Abelson D, Kuehne AI, Wang A, Bakken RR, Mishra AK, Middlecamp M, Champney E, Stuart L, Maurer DP, Li J, Berrigan J, Barajas J, Balinandi S, Lutwama JJ, Lobel L, Zeitlin L, Walker LM, Dye JM, Chandran K, Herbert AS, Pauli NT, McLellan JS.
Cell Rep. 2024 Jul 23;43(7):114502.
Structural basis for potent neutralization of human respirovirus type 3 by protective single-domain camelid antibodies
Johnson NV, van Scherpenzeel RC, Bakkers MJG, Ramamohan AR, van Overveld D, Le L, Langedijk JPM, Kolkman JA, McLellan JS.
Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 27;15(1):5458.
Prefusion-stabilized SARS-CoV-2 S2-only antigen provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 challenge
Hsieh CL, Leist SR, Miller EH, Zhou L, Powers JM, Tse AL, Wang A, West A, Zweigart MR, Schisler JC, Jangra RK, Chandran K, Baric RS, McLellan JS.
Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 20.
Vaccination with prefusion-stabilized respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein elicits antibodies targeting a membrane-proximal epitope
McCool RS, Musayev M, Bush SM, Derrien-Colemyn A, Acreman CM, Wrapp D, Ruckwardt TJ, Graham BS, Mascola JR, McLellan JS.
J Virol. 2023 Sep 22:e0092923.
Structural basis for antibody recognition of vulnerable epitopes on Nipah virus F protein
Byrne PO, Fisher BE, Ambrozak DR, Blade EG, Tsybovsky Y, Graham BS, McLellan JS and Loomis RJ
Nat Commun. 2023 Mar 17;14(1):1494.
Goldsmith JA, DiVenere AM, Maynard JA, McLellan JS
Structural basis for non-canonical integrin engagement by Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxin
Cell Rep. 2022 Aug 16;40(7):111196.
Wrapp D, Ye X, Ku Z, Su H, Jones HG, Wang N, Mishra AK, Freed DC, Li F, Tang A, Li L, Jaijyan DK, Zhu H, Wang D, Fu TM, Zhang N, An Z, McLellan JS
Structural basis for HCMV Pentamer recognition by neuropilin 2 and neutralizing antibodies
Sci Adv. 2022 Mar 11;8(10):eabm2546.
Structural basis of synergistic neutralization of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus by human antibodies.
Mishra AK, Hellert J, Freitas N, Guardado-Calvo P, Haouz A, Fels JM, Maurer DP, Abelson DM, Bornholdt ZA, Walker LM, Chandran K, Cosset FL, McLellan JS, Rey FA.
Science. 2022 Jan 7;375(6576):104-109. doi: 10.1126/science.abl6502.
Stabilized coronavirus spike stem elicits a broadly protective antibody.
Hsieh CL, Werner AP, Leist SR, Stevens LJ, Falconer E, Goldsmith JA, Chou CW, Abiona OM, West A, Westendorf K, Muthuraman K, Fritch EJ, Dinnon KH 3rd, Schäfer A, Denison MR, Chappell JD, Baric RS, Graham BS, Corbett KS, McLellan JS.
Cell Rep. 2021 Nov 2;37(5):109929. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109929.
Vaccination with prefusion-stabilized respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein induces genetically and antigenically diverse antibody responses.
Mukhamedova M, Wrapp D, Shen CH, Gilman MSA, Ruckwardt TJ, Schramm CA, Ault L, Chang L, Derrien-Colemyn A, Lucas SAM, Ransier A, Darko S, Phung E, Wang L, Zhang Y, Rush SA, Madan B, Stewart-Jones GBE, Costner PJ, Holman LA, Hickman SP, Berkowitz NM, Doria-Rose NA, Morabito KM, DeKosky BJ, Gaudinski MR, Chen GL, Crank MC, Misasi J, Sullivan NJ, Douek DC, Kwong PD, Graham BS, McLellan JS, Mascola JR.
Immunity. 2021 Apr 13;54(4):769-780.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.03.004
Structure-based design of prefusion-stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spikes.
Hsieh CL, Goldsmith JA, Schaub JM, DiVenere AM, Kuo HC, Javanmardi K, Le KC, Wrapp D, Lee AG, Liu Y, Chou CW, Byrne PO, Hjorth CK, Johnson NV, Ludes-Meyers J, Nguyen AW, Park J, Wang N, Amengor D, Lavinder JJ, Ippolito GC, Maynard JA, Finkelstein IJ, McLellan JS.
Science. 2020; 369(6510):1501-1505.
Structural Basis for Potent Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Single-domain Camelid Antibodies.
Wrapp D, De Vlieger D, Corbett KS, Torres GM, Wang, N, Van Breedam W, Roose K, van Schie L, VIB-CMB COVID-19 Response Team, Hoffmann M, Pöhlmann S, Graham BS, Callewaert N, Schepens B, Saelens X, McLellan JS
Cell. 2020; 181(5):1004-1015.
Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation.
Wrapp D, Wang N, Corbett KS, Goldsmith JA, Hsieh CL, Abiona O, Graham BS, McLellan JS.
Science. 2020; 367(6483):1260-1263.
View Publications on PubMed

Awards

2024 BioMedSA Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience Award
2024 Research!America Building the Foundation Award
2024 IVI–SK Bioscience Park MahnHoon Award
2023 UT Austin President’s Research Impact Award
2023 National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology
2023 Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research
2022 Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University
2022 National Finalist for Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists
2022 Edith and Peter O’Donell Award by The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas
2022 McGuire Family Prize for Societal Impact
2021 Shirley Bird Perry Longhorn Citizenship Award
2021 Texas Inventor of the Year, State Bar of Texas
2020 AAAS Golden Goose Award
2020 International Society for Antiviral Research William Prusoff Young Investigator Award
2019 Viruses Young Investigator in Virology Prize
2018 American Crystallographic Association Etter Early Career Award
2015 Charles H. Hood Foundation Child Health Research Award
2012 Norman P. Salzman Memorial Award in Virology