Located at LSU Health in Shreveport, Louisiana, we are a Re-emerging and Emerging Virus Lab, studying RNA viruses, their Entry and replication
Lab’s Mission
Increasing overlaps of human and reservoir host habitats of (re)-emerging viruses have enhanced the incidence of zoonotic spillovers of pandemic potential. To develop novel interventions against such threats, we aim to study their entry, replication and virus-host interactions.
Hantaviruses & Bunyaviruses
Members of the Order Bunyavirales, hantaviruses and bunyaviruses pose high risk of animal-to-human (zoonotic) spillover. Hantaviruses are carried by rodents and bats, the two largest groups of mammals on the planet. Many bunaviruses such as Rift Valley Fever virus, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Heartland virus are mosquito- and tick-borne. We seek to understand the molecular compatibilities, or lack thereof, which determine the ability of these deadly viruses to infect and replicate in human and non-human cells.
Using BSL2 surrogate systems (and eventual confirmation with the authentic virus agents, whenever possible), we plan to define the viral and host determinants of virus entry and infection at the molecular level.