About the Authors

Michelle C. Crank

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Ingelise J. Gordon

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Galina V. Yamshchikov

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Sandra Sitar

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Zonghui Hu

Affiliation Biostatistics Research Branch, Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Mary E. Enama

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

LaSonji A. Holman

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Robert T. Bailer

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Melissa B. Pearce

Affiliation Influenza Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Richard A. Koup

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

John R. Mascola

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Gary J. Nabel

Current Address: Sanofi US, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Terrence M. Tumpey

Affiliation Influenza Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Richard M. Schwartz

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Barney S. Graham

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Julie E. Ledgerwood

Ledgerwood@mail.nih.gov

Affiliation Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

the VRC 308 Study Team

Membership of the VRC 308 Study Team is provided in the Acknowledgments.

Competing Interests

The authors would like to clarify the affiliation and address competing interests and financial disclosure of one of the authors, Dr. Gary Nabel. Dr. Gary Nabel is currently employed by Sanofi, USA, however his involvement in the planning of the clinical trial and any significant input on the manuscript were completed while he was employed at the Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, NIH. Dr. Nabel is named on patent applications for the CMV-R promotor used in the vaccine in the manuscript. The identification number for the patent is as follows: US 7,094,598. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: JL BG ME GN JM RK RS TT MP. Performed the experiments: IG LH MP RS BG JL RB ME TT RK RB. Analyzed the data: MC ZH JL GY SS ME RB TT MP RL. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RS RK RB TT. Wrote the paper: MC JL GY SS BG JM ME TT MP LH RK.