Saint Louis University (SLU)

Principal Investigator:

R. Mark L. Buller, Ph.D.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Personnel:

Nanhai Chen, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor
Ms. Kirsten Ellis, Web Administration
Mr. Feng, M.Sc., Research Technician

Research:

Research in this laboratory revolves around the study of viral pathogenesis. Pathogenesis is an interplay of the genetic expression of the infecting agent and the host's responses to infection, with the dynamics dictating the severity and the outcome of the disease process. Our goal is to define host and virus genes which are important in poxvirus diseases in nature. Our research models include ectromelia virus infections of mice and molluscum contagiosum virus infections of humans.

We are also interested in how poxviruses evolve in nature. For example what are the genetic changes necessary for a poxvirus such as monkeypox to successful maintain itself in a human population? Monkeypox rarely transmits past four generations in humans. How did rabbitpox evolve into such an virulent virus for rabbits when its ancestral virus is thought to be vaccinia virus. Low doses of rabbitpox virus administered by a variety of routes in rabbits is uniformly fatal, where comparable doses of vaccinia virus yield a self limiting infection. We are using DNA sequence analysis to measure the rate of evolution of monkeypox virus, and the genetic basis the enhanced virulence of rabbitpox virus for rabbits.

Contact information:

R. Mark L. Buller, Ph.D.
314-577-8451 (o)
314-773-3403 (fax)
http://medschool.slu.edu/mmi/
M432
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
St. Louis University Health Sciences Center
1402 South Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63104
bullerm@slu.edu