Innate Immunity Defenses against Intracellular Pathogens
We study the pathogenesis of the Borrelia spirochetes that cause Lyme disease and relapsing fever.
My laboratory studies mechanisms of reovirus pathogenesis.
My research is focused upon the understanding of biochemical, immunological, molecular and genetic mechanisms of various ocular diseases such as autoimmune uveitis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Our current research is focused on elucidation of the signaling pathways that drive myeloid cell-mediated immune suppression and on development of adjuvant treatments for DC vaccination against ovarian cancer.
Dr. Drew conducts research in the field of Neuroimmunology. Normally, immune activity in the brain is limited. However, in diseases including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and alcohol abuse activated immune cells are observed in the brain. These immune cells produce cytokines which may be toxic to brain cells as well as chemokines which direct cells to sites of inflammation, resulting in neuropathology. Dr. Drew’s research involves modern cellular and molecular biology techniques.
Virology, cancer biology, immunology! Gammaherpesviruses are cancer-causing viruses that infect the majority of humans. We are working to define functions of viral proteins in infection and disease, identify host factors that block viral infection and prevent virus-driven cancers, and understand immune responses to chronic viral infections. Our major goal is to comprehend the complex relationship between gammaherpesviruses and their hosts. PLUS, we get to do cool science and figure out how stuff works!
My laboratory studies lung macrophages and their roles during the infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We aim to understand the ontogeny of lung macrophages and how different metabolic pathways regulate their functions in tuberculosis. In addition, we are particularly interested in the crosstalk between cellular metabolism and epigenetic regulation in lung macrophages.
Dr. Epstein research interests are molecular consequences of myeloma/stroma interaction.
Molecular pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus
Research interests include drug discovery of targeted therapeutics focusing on Single Agent Poly-pharmacology (SAP), drug discovery research for “non-druggable” targets, and development of a kinase fragment library and novel synthetic methodologies for accelerating the drug discovery process.
Adaptive immunity to Chlamydia female reproductive tract infection.
The Liu lab studies host intrinsic innate signaling using poxvirus as probing tool. We also engineer poxviruses for immunotherapy of cancer such as ovarian cancer.
My laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the generation and maintenance of intra-cellular membrane-bounded compartments. In all eukaryotic cells intracellular membrane trafficking is critical for a range of important cellular functions including protein secretion, post-translational modifications, cell signalling, cell polarization, and cell maintenance. Defects in membrane trafficking can underline, or even exacerbate, a number of human diseases including cancer, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s, cystic fibrosis, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome and Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation.
We are interested in studying primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), an aggressive B cell cancer caused by the Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus or human herpesvirus 8 (KSHV/HHV8). PEL tumor cells rely on the constitutive expression of virally encoded genes that globally reprogram host gene expression to create a conducive environment optimal for tumor cell proliferation and survival.
Cell-mediated immunity against human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV therapeutic vaccine development, cancer immunotherapy
Our laboratory is interested in understanding the pathogenesis of pulmonary infection with Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague. We seek to characterize the host/pathogen interactions responsible for disease progression and to define the mechanisms and effects of inflammation-mediated pulmonary damage that occur during infection.
We are interested in understanding the mechanisms by which scavenger receptors regulate macrophage function in chronic inflammatory disease.
Dr. Qin's research focuses on cancer oncology and microbiology. He has an active NIH/NCI research award titled Periodontal Bacteria Enhance Oral KSHV Pathogenesis and Kaposi's Sarcoma Development in HIV+ Patients.
Bacteriology, microbial pathogenesis, Staphylococcus aureus infection, orthopedic infection
The protozoan parasite Plasmodium is the causative agent of malaria, which remains one of the most prominent public health challenges in the world today. My laboratory is interested in determining how protective antibody responses are generated and maintained in mice after Plasmodium infection, so that we can utilize this information to understand why antibody-mediated immunity is slow to develop in humans. Specifically, we are interested in understanding how memory B cells are generated and maintained after Plasmodium infection, and whether heterogeneity within the me
We are using ‘third generation sequencing technology’ (such as Oxford Nanopore flow cells) to do metagenomics of clinical isolates and environmental samples.
The Voth laboratory uses novel human-derived models of infection to study bacterial pathogens that establish pulmonary infections in humans.
According to the CDC, more than 1 billion people, or one-sixth of the world’s population, is suffering from one or more Neglected Tropical Diseases with many of these diseases affecting the poorest populations in the developing world. Our lab focuses on the parasitic disease that results from Leishmania infection. We use a combination of mouse models and in vitro culture to define the cellular and molecular mechanisms that are important in the development of disease and the resolution of inflammation. More specifically, we are interested in the balance between the vascular and immune responses that lead to parasite control and those that promote lesion pathology.
Our lab focus on two aspects 1. Role of Chlamydia variants in host pathogenesis. 2. Role of infant diet in gastrointestinal tract development and immune function.
The molecular biology of coronavirus and influenza virus, viral entry and replication, virus-host cell interaction and pathogenesis, viral vaccine and antiviral drug.
I am interested in the role of non-canonical DNA structures and long non-coding RNAs in human disease. I am also interested in clinical applications of microbiome-derived protein biomarkers