Moon H. Nahm, M.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Moon H. Nahm, M.D., is Endowed Professor Emeritus in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He earned his A.B. and M.D. degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and joined UAB as a professor in 2001.
Nahm’s research has focused on the polysaccharide capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), recognized as its primary virulence factor and a key element in pneumococcal vaccines. His discovery of numerous novel pneumococcal capsule types has afforded critical insight into pathogen-host immune interactions and improved the design of pneumococcal vaccines.
He developed several analytical technologies essential to vaccine development/licensure, including the World Health Organization (WHO) ELISA—adopted globally for evaluating pneumococcal vaccines—and Multiplexed Opsono-Phagocytosis Assay (MOPA), a high-throughput laboratory test that measures how well antibodies produced by vaccines can help immune cells destroy bacteria. Before MOPA, tests for vaccine protection were slow and labor-intensive, and reliable assessment of protective function of a vaccine was difficult. Nahm’s technologies have accelerated the development of advanced pneumococcal vaccines offering broader protection and production of affordable vaccines for countries with limited resources.
His laboratory at UAB is recognized as a WHO Pneumococcal Serology Reference Laboratory. It has harmonized vaccine evaluation protocols internationally and trained scientists worldwide in the use of WHO ELISA and MOPA. Through these efforts, Nahm’s contributions laid a foundation for global pneumococcal disease control policy and enhanced access to life-saving vaccines for populations worldwide. In acknowledgement, an NIH review referred his lab as “National Treasure.”
Nahm’s research has focused on the polysaccharide capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), recognized as its primary virulence factor and a key element in pneumococcal vaccines. His discovery of numerous novel pneumococcal capsule types has afforded critical insight into pathogen-host immune interactions and improved the design of pneumococcal vaccines.
He developed several analytical technologies essential to vaccine development/licensure, including the World Health Organization (WHO) ELISA—adopted globally for evaluating pneumococcal vaccines—and Multiplexed Opsono-Phagocytosis Assay (MOPA), a high-throughput laboratory test that measures how well antibodies produced by vaccines can help immune cells destroy bacteria. Before MOPA, tests for vaccine protection were slow and labor-intensive, and reliable assessment of protective function of a vaccine was difficult. Nahm’s technologies have accelerated the development of advanced pneumococcal vaccines offering broader protection and production of affordable vaccines for countries with limited resources.
His laboratory at UAB is recognized as a WHO Pneumococcal Serology Reference Laboratory. It has harmonized vaccine evaluation protocols internationally and trained scientists worldwide in the use of WHO ELISA and MOPA. Through these efforts, Nahm’s contributions laid a foundation for global pneumococcal disease control policy and enhanced access to life-saving vaccines for populations worldwide. In acknowledgement, an NIH review referred his lab as “National Treasure.”