Virology | Research Interests

Name	Email	PhD Program
Ryken, Sam EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Cell Biology, Neurobiology, Virology
Polson, Grace EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Immunology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Virology
Huff, Julia EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Immunology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Virology
Dearing, Justin EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Pathogenesis & Infection, Translational Medicine, Virology
Chang, Che Kang EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Immunology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Virology
Sheahan, Tim WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Drug Discovery, Pathogenesis & Infection, Virology	Dr. Sheahan is an expert virologist with a primary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and a secondary appointment in Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine. His research is focused on understanding emerging viral diseases and developing new means to stop them with a current focus on coronavirus and hepacivirus.
Ferris, Marty WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Genetics & Molecular Biology RESEARCH INTEREST Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Immunology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Systems Biology, Virology	In the Ferris lab, we use genetically diverse mouse strains to better understand the role of genetic variation in immune responses to a variety of insults. We then study these variants mechanistically. We also develop genetic and genomic datasets and resources to better identify genetic features associated with these immunological differences.
Baxter, Tori WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pathobiology & Translational Science RESEARCH INTEREST Immunology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Pathology, Translational Medicine, Virology	My research aims to understand the pathogenesis and host immune response to emerging and re-emerging viral infections, including encephalitic alphaviruses such as chikungunya virus and respiratory coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2. Other areas of interest include examination of genetic and environmental factors that influence the response to infection and disease outcome, evaluation of vaccines and novel therapeutics against emerging viruses, and development and optimization of animal models of infectious disease.
Rubinsteyn, Alex WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Bioinformatics & Computational Biology RESEARCH INTEREST Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Immunology, Translational Medicine, Virology	I work on predicting the determinants of adaptive immune responses. Most of my work has focused on T-cell epitope prediction for mutant antigens derived from cancer. I have collaborated closely with clinical groups to translate this work in personalized cancer vaccine trials. More recently I have also been working on joint T-cell and B-cell prediction for viral pathogens. The technologies and techniques applied across all of my projects are at the intersection of computational immunology, genomics, and machine learning.
Vogt, Matthew WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Immunology, Molecular Biology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Translational Medicine, Virology	We want to understand why common pediatric respiratory virus infections cause severe disease in some people. Currently we focus on enterovirus D68, which typically causes colds but rarely causes acute flaccid myelitis, a polio-like paralyzing illness in children. We study both the pathogen and the host immune response, as both can contribute to pathogenesis. Projects focus on use of reverse genetic systems to create reporter viruses to infect both human respiratory epithelial cultures and small animal models such as mice. Human monoclonal antibody effects on pathogenesis are also of interest.

Research Interest: Virology