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Get to know our Principal Investigator and team of researchers at Gammon Lab

Get to know our Principal Investigator and team of researcher at Strand Lab

There has been much interest in using Dipteran model organisms to gain insights into arbovirus-host interactions and to explore eukaryotic antiviral innate immunity in general.

Our research is driven by a desire to understand how these microscopic machines both replicate themselves and, at the same time, manage to evade, manipulate, and counter a myriad of host defenses.

Our work has provided the first evidence for vertical pathogen transmission in C. elegans, opening up exciting possibilities for exploring eukaryotic host defense mechanisms that protect the germline (and offspring) from pathogen infection. 

We have shown the A51R gene family to encode a group of highly conserved, microtubule-stabilizing virulence factors that, remarkably, promote virus replication in both Lepidopteran and vertebrate hosts. We are actively investigating how these fascinating proteins inhibit antiviral defenses in such disparate hosts.

Publications for Douglas Strand, Ph.D.

Mendell Lab photo gallery

Get to know our Principal Investigator and team of researchers