Training the next generation of virologists
Biography Research Title: Role of Innate Immune Sensors during Human Cytomegalovirus Latency Project Summary: Dr. Albright’s research focused on the role of innate immune sensors in the establishment and maintenance of Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) latency. HCMV is a widespread human pathogen that causes birth defects in neonates and severe disease in immunocompromised individuals. In addition …
Biography Research Title: Structural Studies of Flock House Virus Replication Compartments using Cyro-Electron Tomography Project Summary: Dr. Benefield used advanced cryo-em techniques to advance our understanding of genome replication by positive-strand RNA viruses. Positive-strand RNA viruses are the largest of the six genetic classes of viruses and include numerous human pathogens such as MERS, Dengue, …
Biography Research Title: The Role of Reticulons in the Formation and Function of Brome Mosaic Virus RNA Replication Compartments. Project Summary: All positive-strand RNA viruses replicate their genomes in or on rearranged intracellular membranes, presenting opportunities for virus control (den Boon et al. (2010) Cell Host Microbe). In this project, Dr. Arturo Diaz used the …
Biography Research Title: Radiation-Induced Autophagy as a Mechanism of Therapeutic Resistance in HPV+ and HPB- Human Head and Neck Cancers Project Summary: Dr. Eckers’ research focused on the molecular basis of radiation-induced autophagy as a mechanism of therapeutic resistance in HPV+ and HPV- human head and neck cancer (HNC). HNC is the sixth most common …
Biography Research Title: Functions of Epstein-Barr Virus BRRF1-encoded Protein during Lytic Infection Project Summary: Dr. Stacy Hagemeier’s project was to develop a better understanding of how viral and cellular transcription factors cooperate to determine if Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is latent versus lytic in host cells. She showed that sumoylation of the EBV BLZF1 immediate-early …
Biography Research Title: Protein-Protein Interactions in HCMV Project Summary: Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a member of the betaherpesvirus family that establishes a lifelong latent infection in its host. This latent state is maintained by a multitude of viral and cellular factors which act by mechanisms not fully understood. Dr. Jacobs has focused on an example …
Biography Research Title: Alphavirus Replication Complexes Project Summary: Dr. Robert Pugh’s project focused on expanding previous findings regarding replication and replication complex formation in model systems to human viruses including Sindbis and Chikungunya. Members of the Ahlquist laboratory previously used Brome mosaic virus, a plant virus and member of the alpha-like virus superfamily, as a …
Biography Research Title: The Long-Term Effectiveness of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Antagonists as Potential Treatment for HPV-associated Cervical Cancer Project Summary: Dr. Megan Spurgeon’s research focused on two areas of research in the Lambert lab. The first regards estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) as a therapeutic target in in human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven cervical carcinogenesis. Prior studies in …
Biography Research Title: Spatiotemporal Kinetics of Innate Immune Activation and Viral Protein Expression Project Summary: During appointment to this training grant Jay Warrick was primarily involved in developing software and microscale tools for studying virus-host interactions in single cells. Since Jay was new to the field of virology he audited coursework and attended seminars and …