Research Area: Viruses

Xander was born and raised in the Ithaca, NY area and completed his bachelors at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He went on to earn his PhD in chemistry and chemical biology in the labs of Dr. Andrew Fisher and Dr. Peter Beal at the[...]

Our lab seeks to understand and prevent spillover of zoonotic pathogens from wildlife to other species. We develop the science of pandemic prevention through collaborative, transdisciplinary science. We work in the field, the lab, and in silico, all with a commitment to translate the science[...]

The Flyak lab studies human antibody response to viral pathogens. We try to answer questions like, how do human antibodies neutralize rapidly mutating viruses? And, how can we design vaccines that mimic effective antibody responses seen in some individuals? In our lab, we isolate antibodies[...]

Scott’s research investigates how endocrine signaling networks regulate animals’ physiological responses to pathogenic microbes. He uses the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a genetically tractable model to investigate the mechanisms by which several key insect hormones and their cognate nuclear receptors both directly and indirectly[...]

The Kim Lab focuses on the general fields of population genetics and evolutionary biology. Dr. Kim is interested in computational problems relevant to understanding evolutionary processes and population dynamics, and in development and application of statistical methods for inference from genetic data. In addition to[...]

We study positive and negative interactions between viruses and antibodies. We are particularly interested in maternal antibodies, which are transferred from mother to infant to protect against neonatal infections. However, these antibodies can also block the infant response to vaccines. Despite this phenomenon being identified[...]

We are actively engaged in defining the signals that enable effector T cells to ‘find’ areas of infection and damage within inflamed tissues. We utilize intravital multiphoton microscopy and optogenetic tools to visualize and manipulate effector CD4+ T cells in situ. These approaches have revealed extrinsic[...]

I am interested in finding better ways of controlling the mosquito Aedes aegypti, the main vector of dengue and Zika viruses. Specifically, I am interested in determining how they move through their environment and the effect that has on different control strategies. The mosquito virome, the[...]

Macrophages are susceptible to HIV-1 infection and are resistant to virally-induced cell death. Alveolar macrophages (AM) in particular are known to be extremely long-lived and self-renewing, and have been shown to be both permissive to HIV-1 infection and persist in the face of Anti-Retroviral Therapy[...]

Dr. Schang uses small molecules with drug-like properties to probe the ways viruses cause infections. He is most interested in finding common features among the many viruses that cause disease in animals or humans, including how they enter cells and how they replicate and cause[...]