You can find a brief description of each member's research interests
by searching for their name, topic, or keyword.

Our laboratory studies human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a herpesvirus that is the leading viral cause of birth defects and poses a serious health threat to immunocompromised individuals. The long-term goal is to determine how the interplay of viral and host functions relates to viral replication and in vivo pathogenesis, and to use this information to develop effective strategies for treatment and prevention of disease. There are three major areas of research. One area centers on the regulation of HCMV early gene expression by viral and cellular factors, with primary focus on a key viral transactivator, the immediate early (IE) protein, IE2 86, which binds to DNA and interacts with multiple cellular transcription factors and tumor suppressor proteins. A second area involves determining the mechanisms by which HCMV usurps various cellular signaling and regulatory pathways, particularly those involved in the cell cycle, to activate the cell to a state that is optimal for viral DNA replication and production of infectious virus. The third area relates to the in vivo pathogenesis of CMV and development of a vaccine, using murine CMV as the model. The objective is to develop a vaccine that will establish sterilizing immunity and protect fully against both acute and latent CMV infection.

Track(s):
Microbiology/Immunology
MCB