“Infectious diseases have no geographic boundaries.  It doesn’t matter whether a country is rich or poor, developed or developing, these diseases can still arrive.” – Sujan Shresta, Ph.D.

Sujan Shresta joined LIAI in 2005 as an Assistant Member in the Vaccine Discovery Division. Dr. Shresta's research focuses on the interface between immunology and virology, with particular interest in viral immunopathogenesis.

Dr. Shresta obtained her B.A. in Biological Sciences from Smith College and Ph.D. in Immunology from Washington University in St. Louis. She completed her post-doctoral training in Virology at the University of California, Berkeley. She received a Research Scholar Development award from the NIAID in 2005.

Sujan Shresta, Ph.D., and her team study the immunology of dengue virus (DEN), a globally important mosquito-borne human pathogen. DEN causes a spectrum of clinical disease ranging from Dengue Fever (DF), a self-limited febrile illness, to a life-threatening syndrome called Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever/Dengue Shock Syndrome (DHF/DSS).

Studies suggest that DHF/DSS is an immunopathogenic disease; however, the precise role of the immune system in response to DEN infection is presently unclear. Using a mouse model, Dr. Shresta and her team plan to dissect the protective versus pathogenic mechanisms of the immune system in response to this viral infection. Presently, they are identifying immune mediators that control primary and sequential DEN infections using mice that are genetically deficient in specific components of the immune system. A better understanding of the immune response to DEN is critical for developing much-needed anti-viral therapies and vaccines.

A second line of research involves the identification of viral components that modulate the severity of DEN infection. Dr. Shresta and her team have isolated novel DEN strains that cause a severe disease phenotype in mice by adapting viral isolates from humans and mosquitoes into peripheral tissues of mice. They are currently developing a reverse-genetics system, in which specific viral sequences are manipulated within the context of a full-length infectious clone of the virus. Knowledge of the viral determinants of infection should provide novel avenues for developing anti-virals and vaccines.