"I selected this graduate program not only for the interesting research being conducted here, but also because of the department's willingness to help me develop both as a person and as a scientist. After making the decision to continue my scientific training, the drive of the faculty in this department to make sure the students succeed both personally and professionally was the number one reason that I decided to attend Wake Forest University. They really put all of their efforts into developing future scientists."

Interplay of SV5 and innate immune mechanisms

The paramyxovirus Simian Virus 5 (SV5) has a number of inherent properties that could be exploited to develop new viral vaccine vectors. Our preliminary data have shown that intranasal vaccination of mice with rSV5 elicits CTL responses and anti-viral antibody titers that can be detected in serum and bronchial alveolar lavage (BAL) fluid without overt lung inflammation. We hypothesize that these adaptive immune responses to our SV5 vectors are directly proportional to the level of viral replication. The overall goal of this project is to test this hypothesis using recombinant SV5-P/V mutants and rSV5 vectors that are engineered to express TLR agonists, known activators of innate immunity. In Aim 1 of my project rSV5-P/V mutants will be used to test the hypothesis that the level of viral replication is controlled by the ability of the virus to circumvent the Type I IFN response, a potent antiviral cascade. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that a virus which is better at circumventing the IFN response will grow better in the respiratory tract and will therefore produce higher antibody and inflammatory responses.  Finally, Aim 3 of my project will test the hypothesis that the expression of a TLR-ag will compensate for the limited growth and antibody response by Type I IFN. The results of this project will reveal the growth properties of two rSV5-P/V mutants in the mouse model system and will illustrate the potential use of rSV5 vectors as vaccines.