Johannes S. Gach
Associate Researcher Step I, Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine
Biography
Johannes S. Gach, Ph.D., is an Associate Researcher in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on antibody-mediated immune responses to viral infections, particularly HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, with emphasis on mechanisms such as phagocytosis, transcytosis, and immune complex formation. He has spent over 15 years investigating how antibodies interact with viruses and how these interactions influence infection outcomes and inflammatory responses.
Johannes received an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship from the Austrian Science Fund, which supported his postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute from 2008 to 2010. He has served as principal investigator on multiple research grants, including an NIH R03 award examining the impact of antibody-mediated phagocytosis on HIV-1 clearance. His work has contributed to understanding how vaccine-induced antibodies affect viral transmission and clearance in both human and non-human primate models.
Johannes received his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna in 2007 and his M.S. in Microbiology from the University of Innsbruck in 2002. He serves on the editorial board of Microbial Cell and as a reviewing editor for Frontiers in Immunology. His research has been published in journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Virology, and PLOS Pathogens.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, 2007
- M.S. in Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, 2002
Distinctions
- HIV Research for Prevention 2016 (HIVR4P) Scholarship, 2016
- Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship Award, The Austrian Science Fund, 2008-2010
- Eramune 02 Clinical Trial Research Project Award, Northwestern University, 2013
- Grace Bio Labs, Inc. Research Project Award, 2015
Areas of Expertise
- HIV Vaccine Development
- Antibody-Dependent Cellular Phagocytosis
- Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
- Fc Receptor Mediated Transcytosis
- SARS-CoV-2 Immune Complexes
- Vascularized Microphysiological Systems
- Viral RNA Inflammatory Responses
Recent Publications
- Pone E.J., Felgner J., Hernandez-Davies J., Gach J.S., Albin T., Davies D.H., “Detection and Validation of Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin Specific, Cross-Reactive, and Heteroclitic B Cells Induced by a Combination Vaccine Adjuvant” (opens in new tab), Cytometry Part A, vol. 107, pp. 817-836, 2025.
- Hatch CJ, Piombo SD, Fang JS, Gach JS, Ewald ML, Van Trigt WK, Coon BG, Tong JM, Forthal DN, Hughes CCW, “SARS-CoV-2 infection of endothelial cells, dependent on flow-induced ACE2 expression, drives hypercytokinemia in a vascularized microphysiological system” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 11, pp. 1360364, 2024.
- Becerra JC, Hitchcock L, Vu K, Gach JS, “Neutralizing the threat: harnessing broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 for treatment and prevention” (opens in new tab), Microbial Cell, vol. 11, pp. 207-220, 2024.
- Kallolimath S, Sun L, Palt R, Föderl-Höbenreich E, Hermle A, Voss L, Kleim M, Nimmerjahn F, Gach JS, Hitchcock L, Chen Q, Melnik S, Eminger F, Lux A, Steinkellner H, “IgG1 versus IgG3: influence of antibody-specificity and allotypic variance on virus neutralization efficacy” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 15, pp. 1490515, 2024.
- Kogelmann B., Melnik S., Bogner M., Kallolimath S., Stoger E., Sun L., Strasser R., D'Aoust M.-A., Lavoie P.-O., Saxena P., Gach J.S., Steinkellner H., “A genome-edited N. benthamiana line for industrial-scale production of recombinant glycoproteins with targeted N-glycosylation” (opens in new tab), Biotechnology Journal, vol. 19, 2024.
- Young Chung J, Thone MN, Davies JE, Gach JS, Huw Davies D, Forthal DN, Kwon YJ, “Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 using extracellular blebs derived from spike protein-expressing dendritic cells” (opens in new tab), Cellular Immunology, vol. 386, pp. 104691, 2023.
- Kogelmann B, Palt R, Maresch D, Strasser R, Altmann F, Kallolimath S, Sun L, D'Aoust MA, Lavoie PO, Saxena P, Gach JS, Steinkellner H, “In planta expression of active bacterial GDP-6-deoxy-d-lyxo-4-hexulose reductase for glycan modulation” (opens in new tab), Plant Biotechnology Journal, vol. 21, pp. 1929-1931, 2023.
- Beihammer G, König-Beihammer J, Kogelmann B, Ruocco V, Grünwald-Gruber C, D'Aoust MA, Lavoie PO, Saxena P, Gach JS, Steinkellner H, Strasser R, “An oligosaccharyltransferase from Leishmania donovani increases the N-glycan occupancy on plant-produced IgG1” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 14, pp. 1233666, 2023.
- Gach JS, Matsuno SY, Mercado M, Hangartner L, Forthal DN, “Internalization of HIV-1 by Phagocytes Is Increased When Virions Are Opsonized with Multimeric Antibody in the Presence of Complement” (opens in new tab), Journal of Virology, vol. 96, no. 2, pp. e0168921, 2022.
- Hessell AJ, Li L, Malherbe DC, Barnette P, Pandey S, Sutton W, Spencer D, Wang XH, Gach JS, Hunegnaw R, Tuen M, Jiang X, Luo CC, LaBranche CC, Shao Y, Montefiori DC, Forthal DN, Duerr R, Robert-Guroff M, Haigwood NL, et al., “Virus Control in Vaccinated Rhesus Macaques Is Associated with Neutralizing and Capturing Antibodies against the SHIV Challenge Virus but Not with V1V2 Vaccine-Induced Anti-V2 Antibodies Alone” (opens in new tab), Journal of Immunology, vol. 206, no. 6, pp. 1266-1283, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Gasser B, Maurer M, Gach J, Kunert R, Mattanovich D, “Engineering of Pichia pastoris for improved production of antibody fragments” (opens in new tab), Biotechnology and Bioengineering, vol. 94, no. 2, pp. 353-61, 2006.
- Forthal DN, Gach JS, Landucci G, Jez J, Strasser R, Kunert R, Steinkellner H, “Fc-glycosylation influences Fcγ receptor binding and cell-mediated anti-HIV activity of monoclonal antibody 2G12” (opens in new tab), Journal of Immunology, vol. 185, no. 11, pp. 6876-82, 2010.
- Gupta S, Gach JS, Becerra JC, Phan TB, Pudney J, Moldoveanu Z, Joseph SB, Landucci G, Supnet MJ, Ping LH, Corti D, Moldt B, Hel Z, Lanzavecchia A, Ruprecht RM, Burton DR, Mestecky J, Anderson DJ, Forthal DN, “The Neonatal Fc Receptor (FcRn) Enhances Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Transcytosis across Epithelial Cells” (opens in new tab), Plos Pathogens, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. e1003776, 2013.
- Pejchal R, Gach JS, Brunel FM, Cardoso RM, Stanfield RL, Dawson PE, Burton DR, Zwick MB, Wilson IA, “A conformational switch in human immunodeficiency virus gp41 revealed by the structures of overlapping epitopes recognized by neutralizing antibodies” (opens in new tab), Journal of Virology, vol. 83, no. 17, pp. 8451-62, 2009.
- Beccera JC, Bildstein LS, Gach JS, “Recent Insights into the HIV/AIDS Pandemic” (opens in new tab), Microbial Cell, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 450-475, 2016.
- Loos A, Gach JS, Hackl T, Maresch D, Henkel T, Porodko A, Bui-Minh D, Sommeregger W, Wozniak-Knopp G, Forthal DN, Altmann F, Steinkellner H, Mach L, “Glycan modulation and sulfoengineering of anti-HIV-1 monoclonal antibody PG9 in plants” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 112, pp. 12675-12680, 2015.
- Gach JS, Maurer M, Hahn R, Gasser B, Mattanovich D, Katinger H, Kunert R, “High level expression of a promising anti-idiotypic antibody fragment vaccine against HIV-1 in Pichia pastoris” (opens in new tab), Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 128, no. 4, pp. 735-46, 2007.
- Gach JS, Leaman DP, Zwick MB, “Targeting HIV-1 gp41 in close Proximity to the Membrane using Antibody and other Molecules” (opens in new tab), Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 11, no. 24, pp. 2997-3021, 2011.
- Gach JS, Achenbach CJ, Chromikova V, Berzins B, Lambert N, Landucci G, Forthal DN, Katlama C, Jung BH, Murphy RL, “HIV-1 specific antibody titers and neutralization among chronically infected patients on long-term suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART): a cross-sectional study” (opens in new tab), PLoS One, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. e85371, 2014.
- Gach JS, Bouzin M, Wong MP, Chromikova V, Gorlani A, Yu KT, Sharma B, Gratton E, Forthal DN, “Human Immunodeficiency Virus type-1 (HIV-1) evades antibody-dependent phagocytosis” (opens in new tab), Plos Pathogens, vol. 13, no. 12, pp. e1006793, 2017.
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Last updated on 3/20/2026.