Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis. Interested in virology, gut, innate immunity, movies, and hiking
St. Louis, MO
Joined July 2017
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Excited to share the first paper from our lab in 2025! cell.com/cell-host-microbe/f…. Herculean effort by @gaopenghou, the paper demonstrates that UV-inactivated replication-defective rotaviruses can cause diarrhea in neonatal mice.
Hiking, bird watching, barbecue, and hotpot—nothing better for our annual lab retreat and celebrating our 7th anniversary! 🎉🥾🦜🔥🍲
Another successful year of ASV! Two former trainees (both Assistant Professors) and two current trainees presenting our unpublished work on rotavirus host range, immunity, and vaccine vector development.
Happy to share our new manuscript out to day in @PNASNews Great effort by Cherry, this paper seeks to understand the mechanisms by which rotavirus NSP1 targets IRF3 for proteasomal degradation. A great collaboration with @WeitzmanLab pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.25…
This year’s Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants is now open! Great opportunity for early career vaccine researchers: michelsonprizes.smapply.org
Excited to share this review article from an MSTP student in my lab Avan: journals.plos.org/plospathog…. Avan has another seminal paper on the role of M cells in rotavirus infection and vaccination. Stay tuned!
Farewell party for my very talented postdoc Gaopeng Hou, who is starting his own lab at Nanjing University! A bittersweet moment and a real milestone for the lab!
Cannot be more proud of my MSTP student Avan who gave an exemplary thesis defense and took the lab in a whole new direction! We will miss you so much! Wishing you all the best with the clinicals!
Happy to share our new manuscript out today in @PLOSPathogens. We showed that in addition to flaviviruses and HTLV-1, rotavirus also utilizes an ER-resident SPCS complex for glycoprotein VP7 signal peptide cleavage and maturation. journals.plos.org/plospathog….
Our lab at Washington University School of Medicine is hiring a Senior Research Technician!
We are looking for a highly motivated scientist, ideally with animal work experience, to join our enteric virus team!
Interested? Apply here:
wustl.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/…
We are looking for new colleagues in our department! Come and join our vibrant microbiology community! Please RT.
Thrilled to share another paper that came online today in @PNASNews. Enkai in our lab showed that 2-hydroxy very-long-chain fatty acids play an essential role in regulating the entry of viruses and bacterial toxins that commonly rely on endosomal calcium. pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.25…
Great to see our story recognized by the WashU medicine news: medicine.washu.edu/news/rese…
Gave two talks in the past five days, but the true highlight of the week was seeing Mary Estes introduce Harry Greenberg for the Ruth Bishop Lecture in Cape Town! It’s deeply inspiring to see giants of virology remain so engaged and impactful.
A good read for those interested in mucosal vaccines: wellcomeopenresearch.org/doc…
Excited to share that I have been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure! Deepest thanks to my past and present trainees, dept chair Dr. Whelan, formal and informal mentors, colleagues, and collaborators for their support over the past six years. I am truly grateful!
Happy to share our new manuscript out today in @NatureComms Great effort by @YinxingZhu, the paper demonstrates that the host prefoldin complex positively regulates ISG expression, which rotavirus VP3 protein antagonizes. rdcu.be/eC28K
A great collaboration with Peter Jackson at Stanford and BV Prasad at Baylor College of Medicine. @WUSTLnews @washumedicine
We identified SAMD9 as a common sensor of cytosolic dsDNA and dsRNA molecules and a key host restriction factor of the infection of multiple dsRNA viruses in vitro and in vivo!
rdcu.be/eiJHa
WashU medicine news on our paper and implications: source.washu.edu/2025/07/was…
Another year of ASV! Really enjoyed Montreal and catching up with friends and colleagues despite the flight delays. Avan from my lab gave a fantastic talk on rotavirus and M cells!
Great opportunity to obtain additional funding and publicity for your work! Don't miss out!
Applications are now being accepted for the Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants!
We’re seeking applicants who are deepening our understanding of human immunology and uncovering new approaches to combating diseases.
All early-career investigators, postdocs, clinical fellows—including residents and interns—and other researchers in training are eligible to apply!
Learn more: michelsonmedicalresearch.org…
