Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD
- Director, Vaccine Research Center
- Executive Chair, Institutional Review Board (IRB)
- Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
- robert.frenck@cchmc.org
- Board Certified
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
Interests
Enteric diseases; vaccinology
Research Areas
Locations (2)
Insurance Information
Cincinnati Children's strives to accept a wide variety of health plans. Please contact your health insurance carrier to verify coverage for your specific benefit plan.
Publications
Recommendations for COVID-19 Vaccines in Infants, Children, and Adolescents: Policy Statement. Pediatrics. 2025; 156:e2025073924.
Recommendations for the Prevention of RSV Disease in Infants and Children: Policy Statement. Pediatrics. 2025; 156:e2025073923.
Mucosal and Systemic Antibody Responses After Boosting With a Bivalent Messenger RNA Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccine. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2025; 232:971-981.
Medical vs Nonmedical Immunization Exemptions for Child Care and School Attendance: Policy Statement. Pediatrics. 2025; 156:e2025072714.
A multifunctional anti-O-Antigen human monoclonal antibody protects against Shigella sonnei infection in vivo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA. 2025; 122:e2426211122.
Evaluating the Test-Negative Design for COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Using Randomized Trial Data: A Secondary Cross-Protocol Analysis of 5 Randomized Clinical Trials. JAMA Network Open. 2025; 8:e2512763.
Protein-specific immune response elicited by the Shigella sonnei 1790GAHB GMMA-based candidate vaccine in adults with varying exposure to Shigella. mSphere. 2025; 10:e0105724.
An oral norovirus vaccine generates mucosal immunity and reduces viral shedding in a phase 2 placebo-controlled challenge study. Science Translational Medicine. 2025; 17:eadh9906.
Dynamics of the gut microbiome in subjects challenged with Shigella sonnei 53G in a controlled human infection model. mSphere. 2025; 10:e0090624.
Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2025: Policy Statement. Pediatrics. 2025; 155:e2024069987.
From the Blog
Brady, Frenck Among Co-Authors of Study on COVID Vax Effectiveness Against Omicron Variant
Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD, Rebecca C. Brady, MD7/21/2022
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
Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD, Rebecca C. Brady, MD1/26/2022
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