NIVI Research Center welcomes Professor Jan Pravsgaard Christensen

Professor Jan Pravsgaard Christensen has always worked within immunology—always with viruses and always using animal models. He brings to NIVI Research Center decades of expertise in leveraging animal models to explore the interplay between immune cells in response to viral infections and various vaccine targets, contributing to a deeper understanding of airway immunity.

Among his many contributions to the work at NIVI Research Center, Jan Pravsgaard Christensen brings a well-established vaccine platform based on adenovirus vectors. This platform induces immunity in mice and can among other things serve as a benchmark for comparing different vaccine platforms and delivery methods—ensuring that only the most promising candidates move forward in development.

Jan Pravsgaard Christensen will divide his time between NIVI Research Center and ISIM, where he continues to teach and lead the Flow Cytometry & Single Cell Core Facility. The facility offers state-of-the-art technologies including flow cytometry, cell sorting, in vivo imaging (IVIS), MSD, and sequencing instruments—available to researchers from the university as well as other academic and commercial institutions.

His first project at NIVI Research Center focuses on tailoring immune responses in animal models vaccinated against influenza using the adenovector platform. The goal is to direct immunity either to the lungs or the upper respiratory tract. This allows the researchers to investigate whether different immune cells are activated in these regions—or whether it’s the location of the cells that plays a key role in protection against influenza.

Both the animal models and the core facility are essential resources for benchmarking and testing various vaccine platforms and delivery methods. These tools will help researchers at NIVI Research Center identify and advance the most promising candidates for next-generation vaccines.

NIVI aims to revolutionize and accelerate vaccine development in Denmark by bridging the gap between academic research and industry innovation. The center conducts both basic and translational research, with a strong focus on developing new vaccines targeting respiratory-route pathogens.

For Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, the interdisciplinary collaboration with experts across immunology and vaccine research—and the ideas that emerge when knowledge is shared across fields—was a key reason for joining NIVI Research Center:

“What motivates me to become part of NIVI is the access to knowhow that complements my own expertise. That’s exciting. I can already see this becoming a fantastic and fun journey with many exciting projects ahead—and I’m really looking forward to it.”