Research Interests: We are interested in understanding mechanisms that allow biological stress-sensors to detect danger signals and initiate highly coordinated coping-responses by assembling into higher order molecular assemblies. Innate immunity is the first line of defense against invading pathogens...
Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus are found in association with a variety of cancers. Our laboratory studies are aimed at better defining the role(s) of the virus in the pathogenesis of these diseases and the development of strategies...
The outcome of most parasitic relationships is decided by an elaborate series of events involving hundreds of proteins. Understanding this interaction requires the analysis of the molecular mechanisms operating in both organisms and the causal relationships acting at the...
My laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms by which cells interpret signals from their environment that instruct them to proliferate, differentiate, or die by apoptosis. This process is of fundamental importance in the development and function of the...
CRISPR-Cas loci serve as acquired immune systems which protect their bacterial and archaeal hosts from viruses and plasmids. CRISPR immunity occurs in two phases: First, short DNA segments from foreign invaders are captured and inserted into the CRISPR locus...