Hans Verkerke grew up in Virginia and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Biology. After graduation, he studied vaccine failure and rotavirus infection in Bangladesh on a Fulbright Scholarship, after which he worked in a viral immunology lab at the University of Washington studying HIV. Soon thereafter, he moved to Atlanta where he did his MD/PhD training at Emory University School of Medicine. His PhD work began with him studying glycan-protein interactions in the immune system, though Hans began to pivot toward clinical immunology, where he took a major lead in developing key diagnostic tests during the COVID-19 pandemic. During medical school, Hans was also a primary leader in the MOSAIC project – a longitudinal mental health intervention for Emory medical students to target student well-being, burnout and mental health resource awareness. He has published 48 publications (including 11 as first author) and received a Young Investigator Award from the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists. Outside of medicine, Hans enjoys running, gardening and woodworking. If you’re lucky, you’ll have the opportunity to try one of his homemade bagels – the best bagels south of New York City.
Get to Know Hans
- Hometown: Charlottesville, VA
- Professional Interests: Clinical and research interests remain broad at this stage. Among them are: immunopsychiatry, interventional, inpatient, emergency, first episode psychosis and psychotherapy.
- Future Plans: TBD
- Awards: Paul E. Standjord Young Investigator Award Winner, Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists and Fulbright Scholarship, Bangladesh
- Hobbies: Gardening, cooking/baking, woodworking, running and biking
Education
- MD/PhD, Emory University School of Medicine, 2024
- BS, University of Virginia, 2013
Publications
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Damhorst GL, Schoof N, Nguyen PV, Verkerke H, Wilber E, McLendon K, O'Sick W, Baugh T, Cheedarla S, Cheedarla N, Stittleburg V, Fitts EC, Neja MA, Babiker A, Piantadosi A, Roback JD, Waggoner JJ, Mavigner M, Lam WA. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 May 2, DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofad226; PMID 37213426 |
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Patel A, Kumar S, Lai L, Chakravarthy C, Valanparambil R, Reddy ES, Gottimukkala K, Bajpai P, Raju DR, Edara VV, Davis-Gardner ME, Linderman S, Dixit K, Sharma P, Mantus G, Cheedarla N, Verkerke HP, Frank F, Neish AS, Roback JD, Davis CW, Wrammert J, Ahmed R, Suthar MS, Sharma A, Murali-Krishna K, Chandele A, Ortlund EA. Molecular basis of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant evasion from shared neutralizing antibody response. Structure. 2023 Jul 6, DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2023.04.010; PMID: 37167972 |
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Wu SC, Arthur CM, Jan HM, Garcia-Beltran WF, Patel KR, Rathgeber M, Verkerke H, Cheedarla N, Jajosky RP, Paul A, Neish AS, Roback JD, Josephson C, Wesemann D, Kalman D, Rakoff-Nahoum S, Cummings RD, Stowell SR. Blood Group A Enhances SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Blood. 2023 Jun 27, DOI:10.1182/blood.2022018903; PMID 37367252 |
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Nakahara H, Cheedarla N, Verkerke HP, Cheedarla S, Wu SC, Hendrickson JE, Chang A, McLemore ML, El Rassi F, Roback JD, Neish AS, Fasano RM, Stowell SR. Enhanced IgG immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in patients with sickle cell disease. Br J Haematol. 2023 Jun 7. DOI: 10.1111/bjh/18899; PMID: 37287128. |
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Cheryl Maier, Samuel Druzak, Elizabeth Iffrig, Blaine Roberts, Tiantian Zhang, Kirby Fibben, Yumiko Sakurai, Hans Verkerke, Christina Rostad, Ann Chahroudi, Frank Schneider, Andrew Wong, Anne Roberts, Joshua Chandler, Susan Kim, Mario Mosunjac, Marina Mosunjac, Rachel Geller, Igor Albizua, Sean Stowell, Connie Arthur, Evan Anderson, Anna Ivanova, Jun Ahn, Xueyun Liu, Kristal Maner-Smith, Thomas Bowen, Mirko Paiardini, Steven Bosinger, John Roback, Deanna Kulpa, Guido Silvestri, Wilbur Lam, and Eric Ortlund, Multiplatform Analyses Reveal Distinct Drivers of Systemic Pathogenesis in Adult Versus Pediatric Severe Acute COVID-19, Nature Communications, 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37269-3; PMID: 37015925 |
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Patricia E. Zerra, Jennifer Stowell, Hans Verkerke, James McCoy, Jayre Jones, Sara Graciaa, Austin Lu, Laila Hussaini, Evan J. Anderson, Christina A. Rostad, Sean R. Stowell and Satheesh Chonat. Factor H Autoantibodies Contribute to Complement Dysregulation in Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), American Journal of Hematology, 2023, DOI: 10.1002/ajh.26868; PMID :36715424 |
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Damhorst GL, Verkerke HP, Harrington KRV, McLendon K, Lu A, Perez MA, Hussaini L, Anderson EJ, Stowell SR, Roback JD, Lam WA, Rostad CA. SARS-CoV-2 Antigenemia is Associated with Pneumonia in Children but Lacks Sensitivity to Diagnose Acute Infection. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. February 2023. DOI: 10.1097. PMID: 36638399 |
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Dude CM, Joseph NT, Forrest AD, Verkerke HP, Cheedarla N, Govindaraj S, Irby LS, Easley KA, Smith AK, Stowell SR, Neish A, Amara RR, Jamieson DJ, Dunlop AL, Badell ML, Velu V. Antibody response, neutralizing potency, and transplacental antibody transfer following SARS-CoV-2 infection versus mRNA-1273, BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. January 2023. DOI: 10.1002. PMID: 36598270 |
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Daniel S Graciaa, Hans P. Verkerke, Jeannette Guarner, Ana Maria Moldoveanu, Narayanaiah Cheedarlah, Connie M Arthur, Cheryl L Maier, Andrew Neish, Sara C Auld, Angie Campbell, Neel R Gandhi, John D Roback, N Sarita Shah. Estimating severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence from residual clinical blood samples, January-March 2021. Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. September 2022. DOI: 10.1017. PMID: 36483398 |
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Kumar S, Patel A, Lai L, Chakravarthy C, Valanparambil R, Reddy ES, Gottimukkala K, Davis-Gardner ME, Edara VV, Linderman S, Nayak K, Dixit K, Sharma P, Bajpai P, Singh V, Frank F, Cheedarla N, Verkerke HP, Neish AS, Roback JD, Mantus G, Goel PK, Rahi M, Davis CW, Wrammert J, Godbole S, Henry AR, Douek DC, Suthar MS, Ahmed R, Ortlund E, Sharma A, Murali-Krishna K, Chandele A. Structural insights for neutralization of Omicron variants BA.1, BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 by a broadly neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibody. Scientific Advances. October 2022. DOI: 10.1126. PMID 36197988 |
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Wilber E, Piantadosi A, Babiker A, McLendon K, O'Sick W, Fitts E, Webster AS, Verkerke H, Kim JS, Phadke VK, Rouphael N, Titanji BK, Blake WT, Howard-Anderson J, Roback JD, Lam WA, Damhorst GL. Nucleocapsid Antigenemia in Patients Receiving Anti-CD20 Therapy with Protracted COVID-19. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1093. PMID: 36043176 |
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Hans P. Verkerke, Gregory L. Damhorst, Daniel S. Graciaa, Kaleb McLendon, William O’Sick, Chad Robichaux, Narayanaiah Cheedarla, Sindhu Potlapalli, Shang-Chuen Wu, Kristin R.V. Harrington, Andrew Webster, Colleen Kraft, Christina A. Rostad, Jesse J. Waggoner, Neel R. Gandhi, Jeannette Guarner, Sara C. Auld, Andrew Neish, John D. Roback, Wilbur A. Lam, N. Sarita Shah, Sean R. Stowell. Nucleocapsid antigenemia is a marker of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Journal of Infectious Diseases. November 2022. DOI: 10.1093. PMID: 35877413 |
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Timi P, Kellerhals SE, Joseph NT, Dude CM, Verkerke HP, Irby LS, Smith AK, Stowell SR, Jamieson DJ, Badell ML. Placental Injury and Antibody Transfer Following COVID-19 Disease in Pregnancy. Journal of Infectious Diseases. June 2022. DOI: 10.1093. PMID: 35767286 |
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Nooka AK, Shanmugasundaram U, Cheedarla N, Verkerke H, Edara VV, Valanparambil R, Kaufman JL, Hofmeister CC, Joseph NS, Lonial S, Azeem M, Manalo J, Switchenko JM, Chang A, Linderman SL, Roback JD, Dhodapkar KM, Ahmed R, Suthar MS, Neish AS, Dhodapkar MV. Determinants of Neutralizing Antibody Response After SARS CoV-2 Vaccination in Patients with Myeloma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. September 2022. DOI: 10.1200. PMID: 35259002 |
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Cheryl L Maier, Ryan Jajosky, Hans Verkerke, Seema R Patel, Jerry William Allen, Megan Fuller, Sean R. Stowell. Storage Differentially Impacts Immunization to Red Cell Antigens. Blood. November 2021. DOI: 10.1182. |
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Hans Verkerke, Bejan J. Saeedi, Darra Boyer, Jerry W. Allen, Joshua Owens,Sooncheon Shin, Michael Horwath, Kashyap Patel, Anu Paul, Shang-Chuen Wu, Jianmei Wang, Alex Ho, Cheryl L. Maier, Patricia E. Zerra, Satheesh Chonat, Connie M. Arthur, John D. Roback, Andrew S. Neish, Christopher Lough, Cassandra D. Josephson, Sean R. Stowell Are we forgetting about IgA? A re-examination of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. Transfusion. June 2021. DOI: 10.1111. PMID: 34041759 |
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Wade J, Dent EA, Wooten MS, Moosavi M, Butler H, Lough C, Verkerke H, Kamili NA, Maier CL, Josephson CD, Roback JD, Stowell SR, Sullivan HC. COVID-19 convalescent plasma donor recruitment experience from the perspective of a hospital transfusion medicine service. Transfusion. July 2021. DOI: 10.1111. PMID: 33990952 |
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Joseph NT, Dude CM, Verkerke HP, Irby LS, Dunlop AL, Patel RM, Easley KA, Smith AK, Stowell SR, Jamieson DJ, Velu V, Badell ML. Maternal Antibody Response, Neutralizing Potency, and Placental Antibody Transfer After Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection. Obstetrics & Gynecology. August 2021 2021. DOI:10.1097. PMID: 33910220 |
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Wu SC, Arthur CM, Wang J, Verkerke H, Josephson CD, Kalman D, Roback JD, Cummings RD, Stowell SR. The SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain preferentially recognizes blood group A. Blood Advances. March 2021. DOI: 10.1182. PMID: 33656534 |
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Wu SC, Paul A, Ho A, Patel KR, Allen JWL, Verkerke H, Arthur CM, Stowell SR., Generation and Use of Recombinant Galectins. Current Protocols. March 2021. DOI: 10.1002. PMID: 33656274 |
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Arthur CM, Allen JWL, Verkerke H, Yoo J, Jajosky RP, Girard-Pierce K, Chonat S, Zerra P, Maier C, Rha J, Fasano R, Josephson CD, Roback JD, Stowell SR. Antigen density dictates RBC clearance, but not antigen modulation, following incompatible RBC transfusion in mice. Blood Advances. January 2021. DOI: 10.1182. PMID: 33496748. |
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Hans Verkerke, Michael Horwath, Bejan Saeedi, Darra Boyer, Jerry W. Allen, Joshua Owens, Connie M. Arthur, Hirotomo Nakahara, Jennifer Rha, Kashyap Patel, Shang-Chuen Wu, Anu Paul, Nini Yasin, Jianmei Wang, Sooncheon Shin, DeAndre Brown, Katherine Normile, Lisa Cole, Mark Meyers, Heather Lin, Emily Woods, Jennifer Isaac, Kari Broder, Jenna Wade, Robert Kauffman, Ravi Patel, Cassandra D. Josephson, Stacian Reynolds, Melanie Sherman, Jens Wrammert, David Alter, Jeannette Guarner, Andrew Neish, John D. Roback, Sean R. Stowell. Comparison of Antibody Class Specific SARS-CoV-2 Serology for the Diagnosis of Acute COVID-19. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. March 2021. DOI: 10.1128. PMID: 33468605. |
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Raghunandan S, Josephson CD, Verkerke H, Linam WM, Ingram TC, Zerra PE, Arthur CM, Stowell SR, Briones M, Chonat S. Complement Inhibition in Severe COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Frontiers in Pediatrics. December 2021. DOI: 10.3389. PMID: 33447586 |
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Rodriguez Z, Shane AL, Verkerke H, Lough C, Zimmerman MG, Suthar M, Wrammert J, MacDonald H, Wolf M, Clarke S, Roback JD, Arthur CM, Stowell SR, Josephson CD. COVID-19 convalescent plasma clears SARS-CoV-2 refractory to remdesivir in an infant with congenital heart disease. Blood Advances. September 2020. DOI: 10.1182. PMID: 32915971 |
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Chonat S, Mener A, Verkerke H, Stowell SR., Role of complement in alloimmunization and hyperhemolysis. Current Opinions in Hematology. November 2020. DOI: 10.1097. PMID: 32889827. |
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Suthar MS, Zimmerman MG, Kauffman RC, Mantus G, Linderman SL, Hudson WH, Vanderheiden A, Nyhoff L, Davis CW, Adekunle O, Affer M, Sherman M, Reynolds S, Verkerke HP, Alter DN, Guarner J, Bryksin J, Horwath MC, Arthur CM, Saakadze N, Smith GH, Edupuganti S, Scherer EM, Hellmeister K, Cheng A, Morales JA, Neish AS, Stowell SR, Frank F, Ortlund E, Anderson EJ, Menachery VD, Rouphael N, Mehta AK, Stephens DS, Ahmed R, Roback JD, Wrammert J., Rapid Generation of Neutralizing Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients. Cell Reports Medicine. June 2020. DOI: 10.1016. PMID: 32835303 |
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Zerra PE, Arthur CM, Chonat S, Maier CL, Mener A, Shin S, Allen JWL, Baldwin WH, Cox C, Verkerke H, Jajosky RP, Tormey CA, Meeks SL, Stowell SR., Fc Gamma Receptors and Complement Component 3 Facilitate Anti-fVIII Antibody Formation. Fronters in Immunology. June 2020. DOI: 10.3389. PMID: 32582142 |
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Pardi, N., Hogan, M.J., Naradikian, M.S., Parkhouse, K., Cain, D.W., Jones, L., Moody, M.A., Verkerke, H.P., Myles, A., Willis, E., et al. Nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccines induce potent T follicular helper and germinal center B cell responses. Journal of Experimental Medicine. June 2018. DOI: 10.1084. PMID: 29739835 |
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Verkerke HP, Williams JA, Guttman M, Simonich CA, Liang Y, Filipavicius M, Hu SL, Overbaugh J, LeeKK. Epitope-independent purification of native-like envelope trimers from diverse HIV-1 isolates. Journal of Virology. September 2016. DOI: 10.1128. PMID: 27512064. |
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Simonich CA, Williams KL, Verkerke HP, Williams JA, Nduati R, Lee KK, Overbaugh J. HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibodies with Limited Hypermutation from an Infant. Cell. June 2016. DOI: 10.1016. PMID: 27345369 |
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Hans P. Verkerke, Shihab U. Sobuz, Jennie Ma, Sarah E. Petri, Dan Reichman, Rashidul Haque, William A. Petri Jr.. Malnutrition is associated with protection from rotavirus diarrhea: evidence from a longitudinal birth cohort study in Bangladesh. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. DOI: 10.1128. PMID: 27510830. |
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Liang Y, Guttman M, Williams JA, Verkerke H, Alvarado D, Hu SL, Lee KK. Changes in structure and antigenicity of HIV-1 Env trimers resulting from removal of a conserved CD4 binding site-proximal glycan. Journal of Virology. September 2016. DOI: 10.1128. PMID: 27489265. |
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Chelsea Marie, Hans P. Verkerke, Dan Theodorescu, William A. Petri, Jr. A whole-genome RNAi screen uncovers a novel role for human potassium channels in cell killing by the parasite Entamoeba histolytica. Nature Scientific Reports. September 2015. DOI: 10.1038. PMID: 26346926 |
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Hans P. Verkerke, Blake Hanbury, Abdullah Siddique, Joel Herbein, Amidou Samie, Rashidul Haque, William A. Petri Jr. Multi-site clinical evaluation of a rapid test for Entamoeba histolytica in stool. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. February 2015. DOI: 10.1128. PMID: 25428152 |
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Hans P. Verkerke, Shihab U. Sobuz, William A. Petri Jr. Molecular diagnosis of infectious diarrhea: focus on enteric protozoa. Expert Reviews in Molecular Diagnostics. November 2014. DOI: 10.1586. PMID: 25139776 |
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Hans Verkerke, Caitlin Naylor, Lennart Zabeau, Jan Tavernier, William A. Petri Jr., Chelsea Marie. Kinetics of Leptin Binding to the Q223R Leptin Receptor. PLoS ONE. April 2014. DOI: 10.1371. PMID: 24743494 |
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Verkerke, H.P., Petri, W.A., Marie, C. The Dynamic Interdependence of Amebiasis, Innate Immunity, and Undernutrition. Seminars in Immunopathology. November 2012. DOI: 10.1007. PMID: 23114864 |
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Marie, C.S., Verkerke, H.P., Paul, S.N., Mackey, A.J., Petri, W.A. Jr. Leptin Protects Host Cells from Entamoeba histolytica Cytotoxicity by a STAT-3 Dependent Mechanism. Infection and Immunity. May 2012. DOI: 10.1128. PMID 22331430 |
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Duggal, P., Guo, X., Haque, R., Peterson, K.M., Ricklefs, S., Mondal, D., Alam, F., Noor, Z., Verkerke, H.P., Marie, C., Becker, S.M., Podd, B., Elkahloun, A.G., Leduc, C.A., Chua, S.C., Myers, M.G., Lebel, R.L., Houpt, E,. Gilchrist, C.A., Sher, A., Porcella, S.F., Petri, W.A. A mutation in the leptin receptor is associated with Entamoeba histolytica infection in children. Journal of Clinical Investigation. March 2011. DOI: 10.1172/JCI45294. PMID: 21393862 |
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Book Chapters |
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Verkerke H, Dias-Baruffi M, Cummings RD, Arthur CM, Stowell SR. Galectins: An Ancient Family of Carbohydrate Binding Proteins with Modern Functions. Galectins. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2021 |
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Paul A, Wu SC, Patel KR, Ho AD, Allen JWL, Verkerke H, Arthur CM, Stowell SR. Purification of Recombinant Galectins from Different Species Using Distinct Affinity Chromatography Methods. Galectins. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2021 |