SCIENTIST TARGETING DENGUE AND WEST NILE VIRUS JOINS LIAI
Broadens Expertise of Emerging Infectious Disease and Biodefense Research Center
SAN DIEGO - April 20, 2005 - Sujan Shresta, Ph.D., a scientist specializing in dengue and West Nile viruses, has joined the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI). Dr. Shresta will serve as a faculty member in the Institute’s Vaccine Discovery Division, part of LIAI’s new Emerging Infectious Disease and Biodefense Research Center. Prior to joining LIAI, Dr. Shresta spent four years as a research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley.
“Dr. Shresta is an important addition to LIAI,” said Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D, LIAI President and Scientific Director. “Her research is advancing knowledge on a group of dangerous infectious diseases and also nicely complements the scientific expertise already existent within the Institute.”
Dengue viruses cause dengue fever and the severe, life-threatening disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome. They belong to an important group of viruses called flaviviruses, which also includes the West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, and the virus that causes yellow fever. Dengue viruses kill thousands in Southeast Asia and Latin America each year and also pose a potential threat to the United States, since mosquitoes capable of transmitting these viruses have been found in the Southeastern part of the country.
A native of Nepal in Southeast Asia, Dr. Shresta received her undergraduate degree in biology from Smith College in North Hampton, Mass. and her doctorate from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She said she chose to focus on dengue virus because of the devastating effects it has wrought in countries with limited resources. “I am from a developing country and one of my major goals is to somehow contribute back to my country,” she explained.
Along with the dengue viruses, Dr. Shresta will study other important flaviviruses, including Japanese encephalitis viruses, and the West Nile virus, which has a genome structure very similar to dengue virus. West Nile virus, commonly found in Africa, West Asia and the Middle East, first appeared in the eastern United States in 1999 and has since spread across the country. The virus can be deadly, especially in the elderly and immuno-compromised.
Alessandro Sette, Ph.D, a world renowned infectious disease expert and LIAI faculty member, said the study of these diseases will broaden the scope of LIAI’s emerging infectious disease center, which currently has projects on smallpox, influenza and the arena viruses, a family of dangerous viruses responsible for hemorrhagic fevers and meningitis. “Both the dengue and West Nile viruses are major public health concerns,” Sette said. “Their study is important for improving human health and fits perfectly with our focus on mobilizing the body’s immune system to fight infectious disease.”
Dr. Shresta will concentrate on better understanding the immune response to the dengue, Japanese and West Nile viruses, with the hope that her research may one day lead to the development of safe, effective vaccines and treatments. Currently, no specific therapies or vaccines exist for either dengue or West Nile virus.
About LIAI
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology is a
nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and
improving human health through studies of the immune system. Scientists
at the institute carry out research searching for cures for cancer,
allergy and asthma, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such
as diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. LIAI's research
staff includes more than 100 Ph.Ds.
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