Infectious Disease

Research addressing multiple aspects of infectious diseases has long been a key area of investigation by faculty members of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Departmental members have been have been highly successful in terms of the numbers of publications, extramurally funding grants, doctoral theses awarded, and presentations at national/international symposia. Historically, research themes within the Department have focused on retrovirology and animal models of human diseases, particularly cancer and immune deficiencies. Important contributions to the scientific body of knowledge were made by members of the Department with the mouse mammary tumor virus model of mammary cancer, and the type D simian retrovirus and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) models of AIDS in rhesus macaques.

Specific pathogens currently being investigated by members of the Department include SIV, cytomegalovirus, Clostridium difficile, measles virus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Borrelia burgdorfori. Areas of investigation cover a wide variety of topics, including mechanisms of persistence and pathogenesis, pathogen detection, vaccine development, mucosal immunology, diagnostics, and intervention strategies. These research efforts have built upon the renowned expertise in animal modeling at UC Davis, particularly in the mouse and rhesus macaque, and illustrate how our department serves as a key nexus point  linking the many areas of excellence and research units utilizing animal models.

Our Point of Care Technologies Center, one of four funded by the NIH nationally, is also pursuing unique research in the development of new technologies for pathogen detection with a focus on disaster preparedness. Our clinical microbiology laboratory also offers excellent opportunities for clinical research.

Departmental faculty members pursuing research in infectious disease are associated with the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine; UC Davis Stem Cell Program; the Cancer Center; the Center for Comparative Medicine; the California National Primate Research Center; the Mouse Biology Program; the Center for Health Informatics; the Mutant Mouse Pathology Laboratory; the Center for Neuroscience; the MIND Institute; the Pacific Southwest Regional Center for Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases; the Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Research; UC Davis Program in International and Community Nutrition; the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center; and the Center for Biophotonics.

• North TW, Higgins J, Deere JD, Hayes TL, Villalobos A, Adamson L, Shacklett BL, Schinazi RF, Luciw PA. 2010. Viral sanctuaries during highly active antiretroviral therapy in a nonhuman primate model for AIDS.  J Virol. 84:2913-22.  PMID: 20032180
• Khan IH, Ravindran R, Yee J, Ziman M, Lewinsohn DM, Gennaro ML, Flynn JL, Goulding CW, DeRiemer K, Lerche NW, Luciw PA. 2008.  Profiling antibodies to Mycobacterium tuberculosis by multiplex microbead suspension arrays for serodiagnosis of tuberculosis.  Clin Vaccine Immunol. 15:433-8.  PMID: 18077619
• Chang WL and Barry PA. 2011. Attenuation of innate immunity by cytomegalovirus IL-10 establishes a long-term deficit of adaptive antiviral immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci in press.
• Abel K, Martinez J, Yue Y, Lacey SF, Wang Z, Strelow L, Dasgupta A, Li Z, Schmidt KA, Oxford KL, Assaf B, Longmate JA, Diamond DJ, and Barry PA. 2011. Vaccine-induced Control of Viral Shedding Following Rhesus Cytomegalovirus Challenge in Rhesus Macaques. J Virol in press.
• Genescà M, McChesney MB, Miller CJ. 2010. Depo-provera treatment does not abrogate protection from intravenous SIV challenge in female macaques immunized with an attenuated AIDS virus. PLoS One. 23:e9814.  PMID: 20352116
• Reyes-del Valle J, Hodge G, McChesney MB, Cattaneo R. 2009. Protective anti-hepatitis B virus responses in rhesus monkeys primed with a vectored measles virus and boosted with a single dose of hepatitis B surface antigen. J Virol. 83:9013-7.  PMID:19535451
• Hodzic E, Feng S, Holden K, Freet KJ, Barthold SW. 2008. Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi following antibiotic treatment in mice. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 52:1728-36.  PMID:18316520
• Barthold SW, Hodzic E, Imai DM, Feng S, Yang X, Luft BJ. 2010. Ineffectiveness of tigecycline against persistent Borrelia burgdorferi. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 54:643-651.  PMID:19995919
• Louie RF, Kitano T, Brock TK, Derlet R, Kost GJ. 2009. Point-of-care testing for pandemic influenza and biothreats. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 3 Suppl 2:S193-202. PMID: 19797963