University of Alabama at Birmingham

University of Alabama at Birmingham

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

IDSA Pandemic Influenza Task Force 
Elected Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Standing member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the NIAID Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC)
Named William and Dorothy Dunavant Chair of Pediatrics
Served as Technical Consultant for the World Health Organization on research priorities for respiratory infections
Elected to the Society for Pediatric Research
Named to Best Doctors in America
Elected to the American Pediatric Society
Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Selected Peer Reviewed Publications:
McCullers JA. Antiviral treatment impacts the outcome of secondary bacterial pneumonia following influenza. J Infect Dis, 190, 519-26, 2004.

Alymova IV, Portner A, Takimoto T, Boyd KL, Babu YS, McCullers JA. Novel parainfluenza virus hemagglutinin -neuraminidase inhibitor BCX 2798 prevents lethal synergism between a paramyxovirus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob Agents Chemo, 49, 398-405, 2005.

Peltola VT, Murti KG, McCullers JA. The influenza virus neuraminidase contributes to secondary bacterial pneumonia. J Inf Dis, 192, 249-257, 2005.

McCullers JA. Insights into the interaction between influenza virus and pneumococcus. Clin Micro Rev, 19(3), 571-82, 2006.

Peltola VT, Boyd KL, McAuley JL, Rehg J, McCullers JA. Bacterial sinusitis and otitis media in ferrets following influenza. Infect Immun, 74(5), 2562-7, 2006.

Huber VC and McCullers JA, Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine is Safe and Immunogenic in Immunocompromised Ferrets. J Infect Dis, 193(5), 677-84, 2006.

Huber VC, McKeon RM, Brackin MN, Miller LA, Keating R, Brown SA, Makarova NI, Perez DR, MacDonald G, McCullers JA. Distinct roles for IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies in the development of DNA and viral replicon particle-based influenza vaccines. Clin Vacc Immunol, 13(9), 981-90, 2006.

McCullers JA, Karlstrom A, Iverson AR, Loeffler J, Fischetti VA. A novel strategy to prevent otitis media caused by colonizing Streptococcus pneumoniae. PLOS Pathogens, 3(3), e28, 2007. PMCID: PMC1829406

McAuley JL, Horning F, Boyd KL, Smith AM, McKeon R, Bennink J, Yewdell J, McCullers JA. The 1918 PB1-F2 protein contributes to virulence and immunopathology of primary viral and secondary bacterial infections. Cell Host Microbe, 2, 240-9, 2007. PMCID: PMC2083255

Vigerust DJ, Ulett KB, Madsen J, Hawgood S, McCullers JA. N-linked glycosylation attenuates H3N2 influenza viruses. J Virol 81(16), 8593-600, 2007.

Huber VC, Kleimeyer LH, McCullers JA. Live, attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) vehicles are strong inducers of immunity toward influenza B virus. Vaccine, 26(42), 5381-8, 2008.

Karlström Å, Boyd KL, English BK, McCullers JA. Treatment with protein synthesis inhibitors improves outcomes from secondary bacterial pneumonia following influenza. J Infect Dis, 2009, 199(3), 311-9. PMC ID#: 65912

Huber VC, Thomas PG, McCullers JA. A Multi-valent Vaccine Approach That Elicits Broad Immunity Within an Influenza Subtype. Vaccine, 2009, 27, 1192-1200.

McAuley JL, Zhang K, McCullers JA. The effects of influenza A virus PB1-F2 protein on polymerase activity are strain specific and do not impact pathogenesis. J Virol, 84(1), 558-564, 2010.

McAuley JL, Chipuk J, Boyd KL, Van de Velde N, Green D, McCullers JA. PB1-F2 proteins from H5N1 and 20th century pandemic influenza viruses cause immunopathology. PLoS Pathog, 2010, 6(7), e1001014.

McCullers JA, Iverson AR, Browall S, McAuley JL, Boyd, KL, Henriques-Normark B. Influenza enhances susceptibility to natural acquisition and disease from Streptococcus pneumoniae in ferrets. J Infect Dis, 302(8), 1287-95, 2010.

Huber VC, Peltola V, McCullers JA. Contribution of vaccine-induced immunity toward either the HA or the NA component of influenza viruses toward limiting secondary bacterial complications. J Virol, 84(8), 4105-8, 2010.

Reichert TA, Gerardo C, Nishiura H, McCullers JA. Does Glycosylation as a modifier of Original Antigenic Sin explain the case age distribution and unusual toxicity in pandemic novel H1N1 influenza? BMC Infectious Diseases, 10(5), 2010.

McCullers JA, Van de Velde LA, Allison K, Branum KC, Webby RJ, Flynn PM. Recipients of vaccine against the 1976 “swine flu” have enhanced neutralization responses to the 2009 novel H1N1 influenza virus. Clin Inf Dis, 2010, 50(11),1487-90.

Hakim H, Gaur AH, McCullers JA. Motivating factors for high rates of influenza vaccination among healthcare workers. Vaccine, 2011, 29(35), 5963-9.

McCullers JA. Preventing secondary bacterial infections with antiviral agents. Antiviral Therapy, 2011, 16(2), 123-35.

McCullers JA, Van De Velde L-A, Schultz RD, Mitchell CG, Halford CR, Boyd KL, Schultz-Cherry S. Seroprevalence of seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses in domestic cats. Arch Virol, 2011, 156(1), 117-20.

Iverson AR, Boyd KL, McAuley JL, Plano L, Hart ME, McCullers JA. Influenza virus primes mice for pneumonia from Staphylococcus aureus. J Inf Dis, 2011,203(6), 880-8.

Weeks JN, Boyd KL, Gowrisankar R, Ades EW, McCullers JA. Combined immunotherapy with intravenous immune globulin and P4 peptide rescues mice from post-influenza pneumococcal pneumonia. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 2011, 555(5), 2276-81.

Carr S, Allison KJ, Van De Velde L-A, Zhang K, English EY, Iverson AR, Daw NC, Howard SC, Navid F, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Yang J, Adderson EE, McCullers JA, Flynn PM. Safety and immunogenicity of live, attenuated and inactivated influenza vaccines in children with cancer. J Infect Dis 2011, 29(24), 4110-4115.

Karlström Å, Heston SM, Boyd KL, Tuomanen EI, McCullers JA. Toll-like receptor 2 mediates fatal immunopathology in mice during treatment of secondary bacterial pneumonia following influenza. J Infect Dis, 2011, 204(9), 1359-66

Wanzeck K, Boyd KL, McCullers JA. Glycan shielding of the influenza virus hemagglutinin contributes to immunopathology. Amer J Resp Crit Care Med, 2011, 183(7), 767-73.

McCullers JA, Williams BF, Wu S, Smeltzer MT, Williams BF, Hayden R, Howard SC, Pui C-H, Hughes WT. Health care-associated infections at a children’s cancer hospital, 1983-2008. J Ped Infect Dis Soc, 2012, 1(1), 26-34.

Hrincius ER, Henneke A-K, Gensler L, Ahnlan D, McCullers JA, Ludwig S, Ehrhardt C. A single point mutation (Y89F) within the non-structural protein 1 of influenza A viruses strongly limits lung epithelial cell tropism and virulence in mice. Am J Pathol, 2012, 180(6), 2361-74.

Wang GC, Dash P, McCullers JA, Doherty PC, Thomas PG. Comprehensive characterization of human epitope-specific T-cell receptor αβ repertoires by single-cell analysis. Sci Trans Med, 2012, 4(128):128ra42.

McCullers JA, Huber VC. Correlates of vaccine protection from influenza and its complications. Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2012, 8(1), 1-12.

Alymova IV, Green AM, Van De Velde N, McAuley JL, Boyd KL, Ghoneim H, McCullers JA. Immunopathogenic and anti-bacterial effects of the H3N2 influenza A virus PB1-F2 map to amino acid residues 62, 75, 79, and 82. J Virol, 2012, 85(23):12324-33.

Hakim H, Allison KJ, Van De Velde L-A, Li Y, Flynn PM, McCullers JA. Immunogenicity and safety of inactivated monovalent 2009 H1N1 influenza A vaccine in immunocompromised children and young adults, Vaccine, 2012, 30(5):879-85.

Reichert T, Chowell G, McCullers JA. The age distribution of mortality due to influenza: pandemic and peri-pandemic. BMC Med, 2012, 10:162 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-162.

McCullers JA. Do specific virus-bacteria pairings drive clinical outcomes from pneumonia? Clin Micro Infect, 2013, 19(2):113-8.

Smith AM, McCullers JA. Molecular signatures of virulence in the PB1-F2 proteins of H5N1 influenza viruses. Virus Res, 2013, doi:pii: S0168-1702(13)00073-7. 10.1016/j.virusres.2013.02.012.

Smith AM, Adler FR, McAuley JL, Ribeiro RM, McCullers JA, Perelson AS. Kinetics of co-infections between influenza virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, PLoS Path, 2013, 9(3):e1003238.

Liedmann S, Hrincius ER, Ahnlan D, McCullers JA, Ludwig S, Ehrhardt C. New virulence determinants contribute to the enhanced immune response and reduced virulence of an influenza A virus A/PR8/34 variant. J Infect Dis, 2013, In Press.

Rosch JW, Iverson AR, Humann J, Mann B, Gao G, Vogel P, Tuomanen EI, McCullers JA, A Live-Attenuated Pneumococcal Vaccine Elicits CD4+ T-cell Dependent Class Switching to Provide Heterosubtypic Protection Against Acute Otitis Media, MBio, In Press.

Mina MJ, Klugman KP, McCullers JA. LAIV, but not PCV, protects against increased density and duration of pneumococcal carriage following influenza infection in pneumococcal colonized mice. J Infect Dis, 2013, In press.

Ghoneim H, Thomas PC, McCullers JA. Depletion of alveolar macrophages during influenza infection facilitates bacterial super-infections. J Immunol, 2013, In press.
McCullers JA. The co-pathogenesis of influenza viruses with bacteria in the lung. Nature Rev Micro 2013, In Press.

Ongoing Research Support:
Incidence and etiology of pneumonia in children
To determine the incidence and etiology of pneumonia from all causes in children, focusing on the impact of co-infections on outcomes (new grant to continue an ongoing study).

Integrated genomic approaches to elucidating novel virulence factors for bacteria complicating influenza 
To determine the disease-specific virulence determinants and associated mutations identified through a novel, next-generation genetic screen of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus.

Bacterial Virulence Factors Contributing to Virus-Associated Pneumonia
The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the role of certain S. pneumoniae genes during infection with influenza and develop a comprehensive understanding of infection dynamics, with focus on the development of theoretical models and on new therapies for this important disease.

DFG Award (HRINCIUS) German Research Foundation
“Highly conserved motifs in NS1 and PB1-F2 proteins of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and their functionalities in virulence, immune responses and pathological lung alterations like acute lung injury.”