ERIC FREED, Director, HIV Dynamics and Replication Program, Head, Virus-Cell Interaction Section

Honors: Honors: Editor-in-Chief, Viruses;  Editor, Journal of Molecular Biology;  Editorial board, Science Advances, Journal of Virology, Retrovirology, and Frontiers in Virology; Associate Editor, Fields Virology; KT Jeang Retrovirology Prize; and Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology

 

Research Interests: HIV-1 assembly, release, and maturation.

 

The Freed lab is focused on elucidating a number of key aspects of HIV-1 replication, with a particular emphasis on virus assembly, release, and maturation. The Freed lab is investigating 1) Retroviral Gag trafficking, envelope glycoprotein incorporation, and virus assembly, 2) Retroviral budding and the related cellular endosomal sorting pathway, and 3) Inhibition of HIV-1 maturation. A variety of molecular, biochemical, virological, and microscopy-based techniques are used in the lab to address these questions. Studies in the Freed lab range from basic biochemistry and cell biology to more translational efforts, the latter focusing on developing highly potent maturation inhibitors.

 

 

BERNARD MOSS, Chief, Laboratory of Viral Diseases, NIAID Honors: Member, National Academy of Sciences; NIH Distinguished Investigator; Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology; Fellow, AAAS; Editorial Board, J. Virology

 

Research interests: Poxvirus-host interactions; viral DNA replication; gene expression; recombinant vaccines and gene therapy; assembly of virions.

 

Since joining the NIAID intramural program in 1966, the research goals in the Moss lab have been to investigate the biology of poxviruses and to develop poxviruses as expression vectors and recombinant vaccines. His laboratory has made major contributions in six areas: virus entry, gene expression, genome replication, virion assembly/movement, viral pathogenesis, and expression vectors. At the same time, Dr. Moss is committed to training students and postdoctoral fellow. Because NIH does not award degrees, he initially joined George Washington University and subsequently the University of Maryland, College Park as an Adjunct Professor. However, his current three graduate students are all from the Virology Program at the University of Maryland. The Moss group is located within the Laboratory of Viral Diseases on the Bethesda NIH campus. There are seven principal investigators in the Laboratory and together cover a wide range of virology subjects. One other member of the Laboratory – Alison McBride – also has an adjunct appointment at the University of Maryland. This provides a critical number of graduate students at this site. The students are full-fledged members of the laboratory and participate equally with the postdoctoral fellows in weekly research seminars.

 

ALISON MCBRIDE, Chief, DNA Tumor Virology Section, Laboratory of Viral Diseases, NIAID 
Honors: Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology; Chair, DNA Virus Section, American Society of Microbiology; Associate Editor, PLOS Pathogens; Editorial Board, Journal of Virology, Virology

 

Research interests: Papillomavirus replication mechanisms; skin biology; DNA damage and repair response; HPV genome integration; comparative viral genomics

 

Dr. McBride’s major research focus is elucidation of the mechanism by which papillomavirus genomes replicate at different stages of the viral life cycle. She has shown that viral genomes are tethered to specific regions of host mitotic chromosomes by the viral E2 protein, which ensures that viral genomes are partitioned to daughter cells. In addition, she has shown that the viral E1 and E2 proteins form nuclear foci that recruit cellular DNA damage and repair proteins to replicate viral genomes. These foci form at regions of the host chromosomes that are already susceptible to replication stress and allow the virus to take advantage of host repair processes to promote its own replication and persistence. In addition, Dr. McBride’s laboratory has determined that pharmacologic inhibition of the Rho-associated kinase, ROCK, greatly increases procurement and proliferation of primary human keratinocytes. This finding is important for studies of papillomavirus replication but also has wide-ranging application for investigational and clinical research. Dr. McBride has also spearheaded a web-based bioinformatics database, named the Papillomavirus Episteme (PAVE), which has already proven to be an important resource for the papillomavirus research community.

 

​

JEFFERY I COHEN, Chief, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID.   Chief, Medical Virology Section,

Honors: Sorin Biomedica Prize; Varicella-Zoster Virus Research Foundation Scientific Achievement Award;  Associate Editor, Fields Virology  

 

Research interests: Pathogenesis of human virus infections in vitro and in vivo; Identification of cellular proteins that interact with herpesviruses; development of vaccines against human herpesviruses; studies of new compounds to inhibit herpesvirus infections

 

Dr. Cohen’s laboratory studies the molecular genetics, pathogenesis, and clinical aspects of human herpesviruses, including Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex virus, and cytomegalovirus. The laboratory focuses on vaccine development and proteins important for virus entry.  Other areas of research include studies to try to identify cellular mutations in patients with severe herpesvirus infections, and attempts to identify novel viruses in patients with unexplained syndromes.

 

 

KIM GREEN,  Chief, Caliciviruses Section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID
Honors: Editorial board, Journal of Virology
 

Research interests: Molecular studies of viral agents of gastroenteritis; relating to epidemiology and vaccine development; replication of Calciviruses.

 

Dr. Green studies viruses associated with gastroenteritis. Presently, her group focuses on the noroviruses (positive strand RNA viruses in the Caliciviridae), that are the major cause of epidemic gastroenteritis in humans. Dr. Green’s research investigates the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and molecular biology of noroviruses. Because human norovirus pathogens cannot yet be grown in cell culture, studies of virus replication in her laboratory have relied on the use of in vitro systems based on cDNA clones of norovirus genes and models based on related caliciviruses (including feline calicivirus and murine norovirus) that replicate in cell culture. These studies may lead to the development of vaccines or other control strategies to lessen the impact of norovirus gastroenteritis, an important public health goal.