Education
Emerging Infectious Diseases Training Fellow, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY (2004-2006)
B.S. Microbiology cum laude, University of California, Davis (2004)
Research
The dengue viruses (DENV) have recently been recognized by the Center for Disease Control as a re-emerging threat to human health around the world. Dengue viruses are mosquito-borne, RNA viruses, endemic to South East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America. Despite the heavy disease burden of DENV, there are no vaccines or drugs to control infection and transmission. RNA viruses are particularly resistant to vaccine creation due to their rapidly evolving genomes. Unlike DNA polymerase of eukaryotic organisms, the RNA dependent RNA polymerase of the DENV does not edit and fix error as it transcribes the genome. This process produces approximately one base pair change/genome replication, which leads to a mutant spectrum of viruses, or strains.
Each of these strains can succeed or fail depending on the environment into which they are born. My research is on the evolution of dengue viruses via strain replacement, especially the biological aspects of the interactions between the virus and the mosquito vector (Aedes aegypti) and virus-virus interactions within the mosquito. To date very few experiments have used mosquitoes and viruses from the same geographical and temporal location.
My previous research at the Wadsworth Center involved a West Nile virus (WNV) replicon-packaging system, with the goal of understanding tissue preference of WNV in vitro and in vitro. I worked with Dr. Kristen Bernard and Dr. Michelle Crum to produce an array of Flavivirus chimeras using the WNV replicon and structural proteins of other members of Flavivirus. We used these chimeras to investigate Flavivirus packaging signals and cell-type tropism.
