Jonah Sacha, Ph.D.

Pilot Preclinical Study Lead

OHSU NHP Center (ONPRC)

Dr. Jonah Sacha is Chief of the Division of Pathobiology and Immunology at the Oregon National Primate Research Center (OHSU) and an internationally recognized infectious disease investigator. With more than 20 years of experience in virology, immunology, and nonhuman primate (NHP) model development, Dr. Sacha has an extensive track record of advancing therapeutic and vaccine strategies from conceptualization through translational studies. His research program has made pioneering contributions that have directly informed human clinical trials and reshaped the use of NHPs in infectious disease research. His group developed the first macaque models of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and fully MHC-matched allogeneic stem cell transplantation—platforms now widely used to interrogate host–pathogen interactions, transplant immunobiology, and therapeutic safety. Dr. Sacha is also a recognized leader in cellular immunology, having described the first evidence of retrovirus-specific, MHC-E–restricted CD8⁺ T cells, a discovery that broadened the understanding of unconventional T cell responses and their implications for vaccine design. Dr. Sacha joined OHSU in 2011 following completion of his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His work has been continuously funded by the NIH for more than a decade. He is an inventor on nine awarded patents, serves on the scientific advisory board of a publicly traded biotechnology company, and is co-founder of a biotechnology venture developing next-generation therapeutics for infectious diseases. His laboratory continues to focus on immune mechanisms of viral control, curative strategies for chronic viral infections, and the development of translational NHP models that accelerate therapeutic innovation.