“I made the decision to carry out my graduate studies at Wake Forest University after attending interview weekend.  When taking on the challenge of obtaining a doctoral degree, it is essential that the student masters skills of problem-solving, trouble shooting, and independent thinking.  There is no better way to do this than learning directly from the experts.  The Microbiology and Immunology Department here at WFU has a uniquely strong faculty-student relationship, which is key to a successful graduate training.”

Research

Virus-host interactions have important implications in the development of therapeutic viral vectors.  The ability of a cell to mount an antiviral response is a crucial determinant of viral tropism, dissemination and pathogenesis. The level of host cell response to infection can be influenced by several factors: activation of host cell pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), suppression of these host cell pathways by viral antagonists, and in our model there is a third factor:  the level and type of inducer made during infection. My work involves the study of a paramyxovirus, Simian Virus 5, which is unique in its ability to avoid activation of host cell responses.  We have constructed mutant SV5 viruses that now activate host responses.  The goal of this work is to determine the contribution of aberrant RNA synthesis to the activation of host responses during mutant SV5 infection.  We hypothesize that tight control of RNA synthesis during WT SV5 infection prevents production of an inducer, which plays a key role in its ability to avoid activation of host responses.  These studies will contribute to our understanding of how host cell antiviral pathways are activated during paramyxovirus infection and can be applied in the development of viral vectors.