The QBI & Gladstone Institute Infectious Disease and Human Health Seminar Series presents Sonja Best, the Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Virology at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories campus of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, NIH). Her research group, called the Innate Immunity and Pathogenesis Section in the Laboratory of Virology, focuses on understanding the host-pathogen interface associated with the intrinsic antiviral response of cells to emerging RNA viruses. Dr. Best earned her Ph.D. from Australian National University in Australia where she examined pathogenesis of myxoma virus. She then joined the RML, NIAID, where she conducted postdoctoral research focusing on the role of host immune factors in viral pathogenesis prior to establishing her independent laboratory. Dr. Best received tenure and was promoted to Senior Investigator in 2017. She also currently serves on multiple Editorial boards including Journal of Virology, PLoS Pathogens, and Science Translational Medicine.

Talk title: Flavivirus manipulation of mitochondrial dynamics as a driver of inflammation: how and why?

Host: Melanie Ott