Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, Ph.D.

Research

My lab studies how coronaviruses and other emerging viruses, such as simian hemorrhagic fever viruses (SHFVs), interact with human cells. Viruses that can hop from animals to humans pose a dire threat to global health. SHFV, for example, has caused lethal outbreaks in monkeys and is able to infect human cells cultured in the laboratory. Preventing a potential pandemic requires understanding how the virus invades human cells and whether any of these components can be deployed in a vaccine to elicit a protective immune response. Using advanced techniques in cell biology, protein engineering, molecular virology, and microscopy, we will dissect how proteins on the surface of SHFV engage with viral receptors that allow them to gain entry into—and escape from—host cells and assess whether the host proteins with which the virus cloaks itself contribute to its ability to cause disease. We will also characterize immune responses produced by naturally infected monkeys, findings that will reveal how to engineer proteins that can serve as the basis for developing vaccines that will thwart SHFV’s potential to cause a pandemic.