Antibody Technology (Formerly ARG)

Mission

The Antibody Technology Research Group (ARG) transitioned in 2018 to become the Antibody Technology Interest Network.

The Antibody Technology Interest Network is dedicated to: 

  • Sharing its collective knowledge about generating, producing, purifying, fragmenting and conjugating antibodies amongst its members and within the larger scientific community
  • Providing a mechanism by which protocols, organizational structures and fiscal approaches can be collected, shared and compared
  • Advancing and evaluating the technology within the antibody field (i.e. rabbit monoclonal antibodies, phage display technology)
Questions or interest in joining an ABRF research group? Contact us! 

Current Membership
David Blum (Chair) - University of Georgia 
Sabin Antony - The Jackson Laboratory 
Dennis Bagarozzi - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
Shadi Bootorabi - University of Florida 
Robert H Carnahan - Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Allis Chien  - Stanford University
Philip Gao - University of Kansas
Angel Sampson - University of Florida
Alan Sawyer - The Jackson Laboratory
Tracy Triplett - Vanderbilt University
Frances Weis-Garcia - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Presentations

Monday, December 14, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET

The Link between T Follicular Helper Responses and Neutralizing Antibody and Memory B Cell Responses to SARS-CoV-2

Speakers:

Erin Scherer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor – Infectious Diseases
Emory University

David Blum, Ph.D.
Director, Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility
Director, Master of Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing
University of Georgia

View presentation recording here.


Monday, November 16

11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET

SARS-CoV2 Antibody Responses: Knowns and Unknowns

 Speaker:        Brianne Barker

                        Associate Professor, Biology
                        Drew University

                       David Blum, Ph.D.
                        Director, Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility
                        Director, Master of Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing
                        University of Georgia  

View presentation recording here. 

Monday, October 26, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of a flexible and rapid response to real-time development of medical countermeasures for life-threatening viral pathogens. Using human B cells from survivors are a potential source of therapeutic antibodies, Dr. Carnahan will describe the pandemic response platform developed and deployed at the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center that has led to a large panel of anti-viral antibodies directed at SARS-CoV-2, including several antibodies currently in advanced clinical development. 

Access recording here.

Speakers:

Robert Carnahan, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Vanderbilt Vaccine Center
Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Radiology and Radiologic Sciences
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

David Blum, Ph.D.
Director, Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility
Director, Master of Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing
University of Georgia

Monoclonal Antibodies from Bench to Bedside:
Development in an Academic Laboratory Core. Challenges 

Monday, August 24, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET

This presentation will address different approaches that successfully develop an anti-immune checkpoint antibody and other antibodies licensed to Pharma companies and in ongoing clinical trials. Other approaches under development will also be addressed.

Speakers:

David Blum, Ph.D.
Director, Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility
Director, Master of Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing
University of Georgia

Laura Bover, PhD
Professor
Depts. of Genomic Medicine/Immunology
Director Monoclonal Antibodies Core Facility
Steering Committee of the Immunology Program GSBS (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston)
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Access Presentation Recording here.  (Passcode:  Eb@d0*Y2)

COVID-19 Serological Assay Design:  Lessons Learned

ABRF Antibody Interest Group Presentation
Monday, July 27, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET

Testing COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic people for active infection using RT-PCR and past infection with a serological test are central to understanding and managing the disease in a population.  Core Scientists in the ABRF Antibody Interest Group have been developing ELISAs to help their institutions study SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion and will share the lessons they have learned along the way. 

Moderator:

David Blum, Ph.D.
Director, Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility
Director, Master of Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing
University of Georgia

Speakers:

Scott Brown, Ph.D.
Director, Immunologic Reagent Facility
Department of Immunology
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Frances Weis-Garcia, Ph.D.
Head, Bi-Institutional Antibody and Bioresource Core Facility
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Access Presentation Recording here. 

Projects

 

1) Comparison of the impact of antibody labeling on performance. Three distinct antibody-labeling approaches are being compared to determine their impact on the functionality of antibodies previously determined to be “difficult to label”.
2) Immunization Strategy Comparison. Many factors impact the ultimate immune response in experimental host systems. To better develop more effective immunization strategies, we have identified a several different approaches to developing a robust humoral immune response and are directly comparing them.

Studies

1) Antibody Protocols Resource. Love them or Hate them … Harnessing the power of antibodies is not always easy ... Antibodies are extremely powerful reagents in a scientist’s toolbox. To make it easier to create novel antibodies for and use existing antibodies in your unique experiments, the Antibody Technology Research Group is compiling a dynamic intellectual repository focused on antibodies technologies enabling all of us to address our own antibody challenges by continuously learning from each other. We invite you to spend 5 to 15 minutes sharing your knowledge from which the initial installment will be created. In return, you and your institutions will be cited for each contribution in the antibody repository and you will have access to it’s complied knowledge before it goes public. Submission topics include, but are by no means limited to: • Generating novel antibodies (immunization strategies, fusion protocols, screening strategies) • Producing and purifying antibodies • Labeling antibodies • Using antibodies (i.e. Flow Cytometry, Microscopy, ChIp-Seq, In vivo applications). To learn more, please review the attachment below which contains the complete announcement, people to contact and a sample PEG based somatic cell fusion protocol.
    - Love them or Hate them … 
2) The Perfect Antibody Initiative. Antibodies are powerful tools used extensively in biomedical research. Unfortunately, they are not all created equal when it comes to the techniques in which they work, their specificity, and sad to say their reproducibility across batches, polyclonal antibodies being particularly affected by the latter. Thus, finding an antibody that works in an experiment is often a very time consuming and costly process. Following up on our 2012 roundtable, we are continuing a dialogue in various formats as to the challenge of finding the “perfect” antibody and what a solution needs to contain. Efforts are ongoing to: 1) To create a series of articles around related to the Perfect Antibody Initiative 2) Spread awareness of the ABRF/ABRF, the current efforts and the Perfect Antibody Initiative 3) Publish iteration of blog series into a comprehensive article for ABRF journal

Activities

Virtual Lab Meetings
Perfect Antibody Blog Posts
    - On OneDegreeBio website 
    - On LinkedIn 

Membership History

Member NameOrganizationDetails
Brian J. Agnew   Member: 07/12 - 03/13
Sabin Antony The Jackson Laboratory Member: 09/18 -
Dr. Jessica Back Karmanos Cancer Institute  Member: 07/12 - 03/13
Dennis Bagarozzi Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Member:
Dr. David Blum University of Georgia  Member: 06/12 - 04/13
Co-Chair: 04/13 - 04/14
Chair: 04/14 -
Kathleen M. Brundage  West Virginia University Member: - 04/18
Dr. Robert H. Carnahan Vanderbilt University Medical Center  Member: 03/13 -
Co-chair: 04/10 - 03/13
Allis Chien Stanford University EB Liaison: 02/16 - 
Dan L. Crimmins Washington University School of Medicine Member: - 08/18
Philip Gao University of Kansas Member:
Ms. Linda G. Green University of Florida  Member: 04/11 - 03/13
Mr. Gregory R. Halverson New York Blood Center  Member: 08/10 - 03/13
Dr. John E. Harlan Abbott Laboratories  Member: 07/10 - 03/12
Ad hoc: 04/12 - 03/13
Dr Karen R. Jonscher University of Colorado Denver  EB liaison: 04/11 - 03/12
Prof. Edouard Nice Monash University  Member: 07/12 - 03/13
Angel Sampson University of Florida Member: 09/18 -
Alan Sawyer The Jackson Laboratory Member:
Jack Simpson US Pharmacopeia  EB Liaison: 04/12 - 03/13
Tracy Triplett Vanderbilt University Member:
Paula B. Turpen University of Nebraska Medical Center  EB Liaison: 03/13 - 04/14
Dr. Anthony T. Yeung Fox Chase Cancer Ctr  EB Liaison: 04/10 - 03/11
Frances Weis-Garcia Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center EB Liaison: 04/14 - 02/16

 

Questions or interest in joining an ABRF research group? Contact us!