Research Categories - Infectious Disease

There are numerous laboratories at HMS interested in understanding how infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria can circumvent biological defense systems and elicit illness. There is a strong emphasis on viral-induced diseases that require more effective and less toxic medical treatments such as AIDS, hepatitis, and Dengue fever. Technology-intensive explorations into viral fusion events and structural elucidation of viral particles are also ongoing on campus. Another area of expertise is antibiotic resistance and microbiological biosynthetic pathways that produce naturally occurring antibiotics.

Related Investigators

  1. Ronald Desrosiers, PhD

    HIV and AIDS: vaccine; persistent immune response

    Develop new strategies for blunting viral replication and bolstering the immune system’s ability to eradicate viral-infected T-cell reservoirs. 

  2. James Hogle, PhD

    Virus structure, mechanism of entry into cells, and replication

    Perform studies on poliovirus infection; investigate the proteomic composition of virus-laden membrane vesicles; study the herpes simplex virus replication complex and nuclear egress ...

  3. Peter Howley, MD

    Papillomavirus biology

    Investigate the activities of papillomavirus-encoded proteins, including the E6-mediated degradation of p53 and E2-mediated regulation of viral transcription and genome replication

  4. Amitinder Kaur, MD

    AIDS pathogenesis and CMV opportunistic infection: SIV; vaccine; AIDS resistance

    AIDS modeling in non-human primates; reactivation of latent CMV in HIV-infected individuals; innate resistance to SIV-related disease progression.  

  5. Keith Mansfield, DVM

    Infectious diseases and aging: simian AIDS; opportunistic infection; diet

    Infectious diseases, aging, and dietary intervention.

  6. Xuebin Qin, MD, PhD

    Immune modulation to treat cancer and viral infections

    CD59, the complement cascade, and disease    

  7. Samara Reck-Peterson, PhD

    Intracellular cargo movement: the role of molecular motors

    Explore the role of dynein in molecular cargo transport

  8. Arlene Sharpe, MD, PhD

    T-cell regulation and disease: chronic viral infection; autoimmunity, tumor immunotherapy, peripheral tolerance

    T cell co-stimulation and its immunoregulatory role in controlling the balance between T cell activation and tolerance.  

  9. Antoine Van Oijen, PhD

    Single molecule imaging for uncovering molecular mechanisms of action: biologic and therapeutic analysis

    Dr. van Oijen’s research utilizes single molecule imaging for uncovering molecular mechanisms of action pertaining to cell fusion of enveloped viruses, DNA replication fork dynamics, and ...

  10. Susan Westmoreland, VMD

    Neuropathology of HIV and SIV infections and AIDS

    Explore the molecular and cellular bases of neuropathologies associated with HIV and SIV infections, including encephalitis and dementia.