Viral Pathogenesis

The Viral-Immunobiology Laboratory, under the direction of Michael Oldstone, is interested in understanding the molecular basis of how viruses infect cells, how the immune response aborts viruses, how viruses wrestle control away from the immune system to establish persistent infections, how persistent infection is initiated and maintained, and the mechanism of how such infections cause disease. Because viruses have different lifestyles, our studies focus on lessons taught primarily to three negative-strand viruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, measles and influenza viruses, and their interactions with the host's immune, nervous, and pulmonary system. The laboratory is also involved in prion disease pathogenesis.