# Therapeutic DNA vaccination and Immune Checkpoints in Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis

> **NIH NIH K23** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $195,893

## Abstract

Dr. Simon Best is a junior faculty member in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and
Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where his clinical practice is dedicated
to voice and airway disorders. With the support of this Mentored Career Development Award,
Dr. Best seeks to better understand the immunologic environment that allows Human
Papillomavirus types 6 and 11 to elude the immune system and cause Recurrent Respiratory
Papillomatosis (RRP). Dr. Best will enhance his research knowledge and skills with coursework
in immunology, biostatistics, and clinical trial design, and receive directed mentorship by an
interdisciplinary team of experienced researchers. He will be immersed in the interdisciplinary
research environment of the Cervical Cancer SPORE program at Johns Hopkins, which is a
unique center of researchers dedicated to HPV-associated diseases. This award will provide Dr.
Best with the resources that he needs to become an independent investigator and future leader
in the treatment of papillomatosis.
In Aim 1, Dr. Best will build on his prior research experience in papillomatosis to test the
hypothesis that PD-1 and PD-L1 play a role in the immunologic microenvironment in a
population of RRP patients and determine if expression of these markers is correlated with
clinical disease severity. He will also seek to understand the mechanisms that drive PD-L1
expression in papilloma and the functional consequences of this pathway in RRP. In Aim 2, he
will study a mouse model of papilloma to further understand how papilloma develops in
immunocompetent mice, and test if DNA vaccines are able to treat this infection. He will further
determine if blockade of the PD-1 pathway enhances the activity of DNA vaccination in this
murine model of papilloma. Upon successful completion of this project, there will be promising
data to suggest a role for immunologic therapies in RRP, and a better understanding of the
immunologic factors that allow laryngeal papillomas to grow and evade immune-mediated
clearance. Identifying these factors could lead directly to the testing of novel therapeutics in
papillomatosis, as well as suggest generalized mechanisms for how the HPV virus escapes the
immune system. At the conclusion of this award, Dr. Best will have obtained the preliminary
data needed to successfully compete for independent funding and achieve long-term success
as a surgeon-scientist dedicated to this debilitating disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982288
- **Project number:** 5K23DC014758-05
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SIMON R BEST
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $195,893
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-08-01 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982288

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982288, Therapeutic DNA vaccination and Immune Checkpoints in Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (5K23DC014758-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982288. Licensed CC0.

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