David Peabody has been at UNM since 1984 and loves New Mexico for its sunny climate and diverse culture. For most of that time his primary scientific interest was in using the coat proteins of RNA bacteriophages as experimental models of specific RNA-protein recognition, but during the last ten years he has focused on exploitation of RNA bacteriophage virus-like particles as a platform for vaccine discovery and presentation. The VLP technology is now being utilized to make new vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases. These include the second-generation HPV vaccine recently developed in collaboration with Bryce Chackerian, and vaccines for malaria and Staphylococus aureus. Creating new approaches to vaccine discovery through molecular mimicry of vaccine antigens is his current passion, but outside the lab he enjoys riding bikes and hanging out with his family.