Interested in Virology research? Take a look at what MCDB faculty are doing in this area:
Bisaro, David
Geminivirus replication, gene expression, and pathogenesis. The role of small RNA-directed epigenetic silencing in defense against DNA viruses.
Davis, Jonathan
Dr. Davis’ lab focuses on the cellular and molecular basis of muscle contraction and relaxation via understanding how calcium binding proteins/enzymes are appropriately “tuned” kinetically to respond to calcium transients in vitro and in vivo. One of the laboratory goals is to modulate cellular function through the design and engineering of calcium binding proteins.
Ganju, Ramesh
Chemokine-mediated breast cancer progression and metastasis; molecular mechanism of chemokine receptor CXCR4/CCR5-mediated pathogenesis during HIV infection; small molecular weight inhibitors for chemokine receptors and characterizing cross-talk between Slit/Robo and chemokine receptor pathways as a novel target for combating breast cancer metastasis and HIV infection.
Green, Patrick
Molecular pathogenesis of human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV); molecular biology of retrovirus replication; T-cell activation/transformation.
Guo, Peixuan
Dr. Guo's lab is really interdisciplinary with diverse technologies and variable projects involving the areas of cell biology, molecular medicine, virology, biophysics, biotechnology, biochemistry, chemistry, computation, biomedical engineering, single molecular optics, single molecular conductance, single pore sensing, RNA Nanotechnology, nucleic acid chemistry, cancer therapy, drug delivery, viral DNA packaging, and ATPase motors. The lab has been focused on the study of viral DNA packaging motor that is composed of a protein channel driven by six ATPase and geared by six RNA molecules.
Kaspar, Brian
Investigation of cell death pathways in Central Nervous System Disorders; delivery of Gene Therapy Vectors to the CNS; identification of Neural Stem Cell Signaling Pathways and Development.
Kvaratskhelia, Mamuka
Understand HIV replication, cancer development and DNA repair processes at the molecular level, using mass spectrometry as both a proteomic and structural biology tool to elucidate the composition and architecture of key biological macromolecules.
Kwiek, Jesse
Research in the Kwiek Lab focuses on the biology, pharmacology, and public health impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1).
Liu, Shan-Lu
Professor Liu studies virus-host interactions, in particular how RNA viruses enter host cells and cause pathogenesis in humans and animals. While in the past the Liu lab has been mainly focusing on retroviruses, including HIV, current efforts also include some new human emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Zika. Rotation and research projects include a better understanding the molecular process by which RNA viruses enter host cells or fuse with them, as well as developing effective ways to deliver human gene therapy. The Liu lab also studies some interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), including IFITM, Viperin and Tetherin, with an ultimate goal of developing effective therapeutic strategies. Another aspect of Liu lab research is viral oncology, with major efforts in elucidating how some viral oncogenes induce oncogenic transformation leading to cancer as well as discovering new tumor viruses that could be associated with human lung and other epithelial cancers
McCarty, Douglas
The biology of adeno-associated virus (AAV), and its used as a gene delivery system for the treatment of human disease.
Musier-Forsyth, Karin
Assembly of viral and host cell RNAs into HIV-1 and other retroviruses; Quality control by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and related trans-editing enzymes; Non-canonical functions of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and role in human disease.
Niewiesk, Stefan
Immune modulation by measles virus and vaccination in the presence of maternal antibodies.
Oglesbee, Michael
Role of cellular stress response/heat shock proteins in viral infection (measles, canine distemper virus).
Qu, Feng
Focus is on elucidating molecular mechanisms that govern defense responses mounted by plants after attack by virus pathogens. Model viruses are small positive sense RNA viruses (ie, Turnip crinkle virus, Bean pod mottle virus). Current projects include understand the role of temperature in RNA silencing-based antiviral defense, and how nonhost plants respond to virus invasions.
Symer, David
Causes and consequences of endogenous transposition and alternative RNA splicing in mouse and man.
Williams, Marshall
DNA replication and repair in eukaryotic cells and herpes viruses.
Wu, Li
Research focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which immune cells disseminate HIV in order to facilitate the development of more effective interventions against HIV infection and transmission.
Yu, Jianhua
Objective of first research area is to investigate natural killer (NK) cell innate immune response to tumor cells through understanding signaling pathways, cell activation, cell subsets, and cell development of NK cells. The goal of the project is to perform NK cell-based immunotherapy to treat leukemia, glioblastoma or hepatocellular carcinoma. The second research area is regarding hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This includes stem cell mobilization and HSCT associated complications such as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and leukemia relapse.