A photo of Robert W. Frenck Jr.

Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD

  • Director, Vaccine Research Center
  • Executive Chair, Institutional Review Board (IRB)
  • Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

About

Biography

The research that I’m most interested in is developing vaccines to prevent infections. Vaccines are the most impressive public health measure to reduce the rates of disease. I was inspired to pursue this area of pediatric patient care because infections are still the leading cause of death among children worldwide. I believe that finding methods to reduce infections among children will greatly enhance children's lives and help them grow up into healthy, happy adults.

Vaccines have saved more lives and averted more diseases than any other remedy that exists in medicine. Distributing vaccines around the globe has eliminated smallpox and has nearly eliminated polio. Furthermore, new vaccines are likely to prevent new infections, such as Ebola and COVID-19.

I am Director of the Gamble Center for Clinical Research, where my colleagues and I assess new vaccines and agents designed to prevent infections. I’m also the principal investigator of the Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit (VTEU), which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

At the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, we are one of nine VTEU sites that exist in the United States. Our hospital was selected as a VTEU site due to our extensive history of excellence in vaccine testing.

My research has been published in various journals, including Clinical Infectious Diseases, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Lancet Infectious Diseases, and the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology: Practical Reports on Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease. I’m an acknowledged authority in infectious diseases and have authored more than 125 articles and book chapters.

BA: University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, 1977.

MD: University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, 1981.

Internship and Residency: US Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD, 1981-1984.

Fellowship: Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, 1987-1990.

Interests

Vaccine research; enteric diseases; travel medicine

Services and Specialties

Infectious Diseases

Interests

Enteric diseases; vaccinology

Research Areas

Infectious Diseases

Insurance Information

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Publications

1119. Covid-19 Mab Use in High-Risk Pediatric Patients. Bahakel, H; Murphy, CR; Frenck, RW; Grimley, M; Phillips, C; Schulert, G; Spearman, P; Courter, JD; Paulsen, GC; Danziger-Isakov, LA. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2022; 9.

Multi-site observational maternal and infant COVID-19 vaccine study (MOMI-vax): a study protocol. Munoz, FM; Beigi, RH; Posavad, CM; Richardson, BA; Chu, HY; Bok, K; Campbell, J; Cardemil, C; DeFranco, E; Frenck, RW; et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2022; 22.

Single Site Experience of the use of Monoclonal Antibodies for the Treatment of COVID-19 in High-risk Pediatric and Young Adult Patients. Bahakel, H; Murphy, C; Frenck, RW; Grimley, MS; Marsh, RA; Paulsen, GC; Haslam, DB; Phillips, CL; Courter, J; Spearman, P; et al. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 2022; 41:985-988.

Plain language summary of Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine safety in participants 16 years or older and protection against COVID-19 in participants 12 years or older. Thomas, SJ; Moreira, ED; Kitchin, N; Absalon, J; Gurtman, A; Lockhart, S; Perez, JL; Marc, GP; Polack, FP; Zerbini, C; et al. Future Virology. 2022; 17:849-862.

Durability of protection and immunogenicity of AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) COVID-19 vaccine over 6 months. Sobieszczyk, ME; Maaske, J; Falsey, AR; Sproule, S; Robb, ML; Frenck, RW; Tieu, HV; Mayer, KH; Corey, L; Neuzil, KM; et al. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2022; 132.

Pivotal Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial of the Safety, Tolerability, and Immunogenicity of 20-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Adults Aged ≥18 Years. Essink, B; Sabharwal, C; Cannon, K; Frenck, R; Lal, H; Xu, X; Sundaraiyer, V; Peng, Y; Moyer, L; Pride, MW; et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2022; 75:390-398.

Rapid decline in vaccine-boosted neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Lyke, KE; Atmar, RL; Islas, CD; Posavad, CM; Szydlo, D; Paul Chourdhury, R; Deming, ME; Eaton, A; Jackson, LA; Branche, AR; et al. 2022; 3.

Shigella-Controlled Human Infection Models: Current and Future Perspectives. Clarkson, KA; Porter, CK; Talaat, KR; Kapulu, MC; Chen, WH; Frenck, RW; Bourgeois, AL; Kaminski, RW; Martin, LB. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. 2022.

Editorial. Frenck, RW. Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 2022; 34:117-118.

Homologous and Heterologous Covid-19 Booster Vaccinations. Atmar, RL; Lyke, KE; Deming, ME; Jackson, LA; Branche, AR; El Sahly, HM; Rostad, CA; Martin, JM; Johnston, C; Rupp, RE; et al. New England Journal of Medicine. 2022; 386:1046-1057.

From the Blog


Can Kids Get the COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines at the Same Time?
BlogVaccines

Can Kids Get the COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines at the Same Time?

By Bob Frenck MD10/26/2022

Cincinnati Children’s Plays Central Role in COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials
Infectious Diseases and Vaccines

Cincinnati Children’s Plays Central Role in COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials

Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD, Paul Spearman, MD5/22/2022

Brady, Frenck Among Co-Authors of COVID Vax ‘Mix-and-Match’ Study in NEJM
Infectious Diseases and Vaccines

Brady, Frenck Among Co-Authors of COVID Vax ‘Mix-and-Match’ Study in NEJM

Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD, Rebecca C. Brady, MD1/26/2022

9 Things for Parents to Know About the Omicron Variant
BlogVaccines

9 Things for Parents to Know About the Omicron Variant

By Dr. Robert Frenck1/26/2022

My Child Is Fully Vaccinated – Now What?
BlogVaccines

My Child Is Fully Vaccinated – Now What?

By Dr. Robert Frenck11/18/2021

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