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Fall 2024

Luo, Shu Yue

Viral diseases are a constant threat that have profound impact on global health, economics and societies. Understanding virus-host interactions is key for advancing our knowledge of viral replication and pathogenesis, and thus for the development of effective antiviral strategies to better...

Fall 2021

Vallee, Gregory Thomas

Poxviruses encode many genes that are orthologs of cellular genes. These orthologs serve many functions, but those that are of most interest are ones that have evolved further and now serve an immune-evasion function. Such genes were likely first acquired by poxviruses through some form of...

Fall 2020

Rubino, Ilaria

Infectious respiratory diseases, caused by viruses and bacteria that attack the respiratory system, constitute a serious threat in public health around the world. Pathogens can be transmitted in the air though large droplets or aerosols. As aerosols can linger in the environment for a prolonged...

Spring 2016

Lin, Zhen

Analysis and interpretation of next generation sequencing data has posed a significant challenge to researchers, especially to those who are not equipped with expertise in bioinformatics. In this thesis, I investigated three different biomedical questions using NGS and bioinformatic approaches,...

Spring 2014

Skappak, Christopher Dustin

This thesis examines the pathophysiology of asthma, attempts to determine the cellular mechanisms behind viral-induced immune memory mediated asthma exacerbations, and investigates urinary metabolomic biomarkers of asthma and neonatal hypoxia.

Spring 2010

Bergeron, Amber

These two studies investigate the immune responses of lung and kidney transplant recipients to the influenza vaccine. The study involving kidney transplant recipients developed a novel flow cytometry assay to measure cell-mediated immunity in response to influenza vaccination. The activation of...

Fall 2010

Fagan-Garcia, Katharine

The classical Nuclear Factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway is an important regulator of inflammation and innate immune responses. Poxviruses, including vaccinia virus, encode multiple immune evasion proteins, including a growing number of NF-κB inhibitors. To determine if additional vaccinia...

Fall 2015

Tetrault, David G

The influenza A viral RNA polymerase is responsible for viral replication and greatly affects influenza A virus (IAV) virulence and host range. The PB2 influenza polymerase subunit is the primary polymerase determinant of influenza host range and virulence. It was previously shown that PB2...

Spring 2019

Jensen, Lionel D

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an Orthopneumovirus that infects the epithelium of the airways. Severe RSV infection of the lower respiratory tract in infants is a leading cause of pediatric hospitalizations. RSV also causes substantial morbidity in immunocompromised and elderly populations....

Fall 2015

Kumar, Ankit

Influenza is a major respiratory disease caused by influenza virus. Recent spread of the extremely pathogenic avian and swine influenza viruses paint a morbid picture of the emergence of a more lethal influenza virus in future. Currently, hypodermic needles are being dominantly employed in...