College of Veterinary Medicine

Jakob TrimpertJakob Trimpert

Associate Professor

DVM (2013) Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
PhD (2018) Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Office: Mosier N-211A
Phone: 785-532-4631
Email: jtrimpert@vet.k-state.edu

Research

  • I am heading a virology research group that works on virus evolution, animal models for
    infectious disease, and drug and vaccine development. My research comprises quite different
    virus families with a spectrum ranging from DNA viruses like herpes- and iridoviruses to RNA viruses such as influenza and coronaviruses.
  • Since my own PhD, I studied the evolution of a chicken herpesvirus (Marek’s Disease Virus, MDV), which is an excellent example and model for the evolution of virulence. I am fascinated by the complex biology, remarkable adaptation and impressive immune evasion of herpesviruses.
  • Genetic diversity in and evolution of viruses has remained one of my major interests. Specifically, so-called hypermutator herpesviruses are one main area of my research. By reducing the ability of the viral DNA polymerase to perform proofreading, we have generated viruses that show a variable degree of hypermutation and have the potential to serve as tools to accelerate evolution and investigate virus adaptation. Employing these viruses, my group currently studies the adaption of viruses to new host species and the development of drug and vaccine resistance.
  • Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have employed my expertise as veterinarian in establishing and characterizing different hamster models for COVID-19 research. This has served as basis for many of our achievements in drug discovery and vaccine. Among the many SARS-CoV-2-related projects, the development of safe and effective life attenuated vaccines and innovative antiviral therapies have become an important focus of my research which I will continue and expand over the next years.

Full Bibliography

Selected Publications

Adler JM, Martin Vidal R, Langner C, Vladimirova D, Abdelgawad A, Kunecova D, Lin X, Nouailles G, Voss A, Kunder S, Gruber AD, Wu H, Osterrieder N, Kunec D, Trimpert J. An intranasal live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine limits virus transmission. Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 2;15(1):995. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45348-2.

Adler JM, Martin Vidal R, Voß A, Kunder S, Nascimento M, Abdelgawad A, Langner C, Vladimirova D, Osterrieder N, Gruber AD, Kunec D, Trimpert J. A non-transmissible live attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Mol Ther. 2023 May 23:S1525-0016(23)00260-5.

Nouailles G, Julia M. Adler JM, Pennitz P, Peidli S, Teixeira Alves G, Baumgardt M, Bushe J, Voss A, Langenhagen A, Langner C2, Martin Vidal R, Pott F, Kazmierski J, Ebenig A, Lange MV, Mühlebach MD, Goekeri C, Simmons S, Xing N, Abdelgawad A, Herwig S, Cichon G, Niemeyer D, Drosten C, Goffinet C, Landthaler M, Blüthgen N, Wu H, Witzenrath M, Gruber AD, Praktiknjo SD, Osterrieder N, Wyler E, Kunec D, Trimpert J. Live-attenuated vaccine sCPD9 elicits superior mucosal and systemic immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants in hamsters. Nat Microbiol. 2023 May;8(5):860-874.

Brunialti M, Höfler T, Nascimento M, Trimpert J. Suicidal Phenotype of Proofreading-Deficient Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Polymerase Mutants. J Virol. 2023 Jan 4:e0135922.

Xing N, Höfler T, Hearn CJ, Nascimento M, Camps Paradell G, McMahon DP, Kunec D, Osterrieder N, Cheng HH, Trimpert J. Fast-forwarding evolution-Accelerated adaptation in a proofreading-deficient hypermutator herpesvirus. Virus Evol. 2022 Oct 14;8(2):veac099.

Rothenberger S, Hurdiss DL, Walser M, Malvezzi F, Mayor J, Ryter S, Moreno H, Liechti N, Bosshart A, Iss C, Calabro V, Cornelius A, Hospodarsch T, Neculcea A, Looser T, Schlegel A, Fontaine S, Villemagne D, Paladino M, Schiegg D, Mangold S, Reichen C, Radom F, Kaufmann Y, Schaible D, Schlegel I, Zitt C, Sigrist G, Straumann M, Wolter J, Comby M, Sacarcelik F, Drulyte I, Lyoo H, Wang C, Li W, Du W, Binz HK, Herrup R, Lusvarghi S, Neerukonda SN, Vassell R, Wang W, Adler JM, Eschke K, Nascimento M, Abdelgawad A, Gruber AD, Bushe J, Kershaw O, Knutson CG, Balavenkatraman KK, Ramanathan K, Wyler E, Teixeira Alves LG, Lewis S, Watson R, Haeuptle MA, Zürcher A, Dawson KM, Steiner D, Weiss CD, Amstutz P, van Kuppeveld FJM, Stumpp MT, Bosch BJ, Engler O, Trimpert J. The trispecific DARPin ensovibep inhibits diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nat Biotechnol. 2022 Dec;40(12):1845-1854. doi: 10.1038/s41587-022-01382-3.

Wyler E, Adler JM, Eschke K, Teixeira Alves G, Peidli S, Pott F, Kazmierski J, Michalick L, Kershaw O, Bushe J, Andreotti S, Pennitz P, Abdelgawad A, Postmus D, Goffinet C, Kreye J, S Momsen Reincke SM, Prüss H, Blüthgen N, Gruber AD, Kuebler WM, Witzenrath M, Landthaler M, Nouailles G, Trimpert J. Key benefits of dexamethasone and antibody treatment in COVID-19 hamster models revealed by single cell transcriptomics. Mol Ther. 2022 May 4;30(5):1952-1965

Trimpert J, Adler JM, Eschke K, Abdelgawad A, Firsching TC, Ebert N, Thao TTN, Gruber AD, Thiel V, Osterrieder N, Kunec D. Live attenuated virus vaccine protects against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and B.1.351 (Beta). Sci Adv. 2021 Dec 3;7(49):eabk0172.

Trimpert J, Dietert K, Firsching TC, Ebert N, Thi Nhu Thao T, Vladimirova D, Kaufer S, Labroussaa F, Abdelgawad A, Conradie A, Höfler T, Adler JM, Bertzbach LD, Jores J, Gruber AD, Thiel V, Osterrieder N, Kunec D. Development of safe and highly protective live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates by genome recoding. Cell Rep. 2021 Aug 3;36(5):109493.

Trimpert J, Vladimirova D, Dietert K, Abdelgawad A, Kunec D, Dökel S, Voss A, Gruber AD, Bertzbach LD, Osterrieder N. The Roborovski Dwarf Hamster Is A Highly Susceptible Model for a Rapid and Fatal Course of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Cell Rep. 2020 Dec 8;33(10):108488.

Trimpert J, Groenke N, Kunec D, Eschke K, He S, McMahon DP, Osterrieder N. A proofreading-impaired herpesvirus generates populations with quasispecies-like structure. Nat Microbiol. 2019 Dec;4(12):2175-2183.

Trimpert J, Groenke N, Jenckel M, He S, Kunec D, Szpara ML, Spatz SJ, Osterrieder N, McMahon DP. A phylogenomic analysis of Marek's disease virus reveals independent paths to virulence in Eurasia and North America. Evol Appl. 2017 Sep 3;10(10):1091-1101.