Dr. Mascola’s background is in infectious diseases, viral immunology, and vaccine research.

As the Scientific Director and Center Director, Dr. Mascola provides overall direction and scientific leadership to the basic, clinical, and translational research activities of the VRC; oversees program operations; recommends or develops new or revised research programs to meet public health needs; allocates VRC physical and financial resources; and develops and recommends policies for the execution of multi-disciplinary research. He also serves as a principal advisor to the director, NIAID, on vaccines and related biomedical research affairs. In addition, he serves as an expert consultant and advisor both nationally and internationally on the development of novel vaccine strategies against HIV, influenza, and other vaccines of high public health importance.

In addition to his role as Director, Dr. Mascola also serves as Chief of the Virology Laboratory, and directs basic and applied research on the structure-based design and testing of novel vaccines for HIV and influenza and on optimization of immune responses and identification of correlates of immune protection. His research also focuses on antibody-mediated protective immune responses through studies of both the plasma antibody and B-cell compartments, including studies to understand the genetic and immunological characteristics that guide the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1.​​​