Center for Virus Research

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ben Morehouse Recipient of the Michelson Medical Research Foundation Award to Rising Immunology Leaders LOS ANGELES—Michelson Medical Research Foundation (MMRF) is proud to announce the eighth cohort of recipients of its 2026 Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants, naming five early-career scientists whose research is advancing the future of human immunology…

Congratulations to Dr. Roberto Tinoco for successfully renewing the MARC Research Training Program! Please join us in congratulating Roberto Tinoco for successfully renewing UCI’s MARC Research Training Program, an NIH-funded honors program designed to support students pursuing careers in the biomedical sciences. For decades, this program – previously led by Luis Mota-Bravo (now retired) – has pr…

Posted on: September 17, 2025 Please join us in congratulating Dr. Kaitlin Murray who was just awarded an NIH F32 Fellowship!

Posted on: August 22, 2025 Please join us in congratulating Nishad Maggirwar who was just awarded a 3-year NIH F31 fellowship!

Reginald McNulty’s Lab Explores Promising New Pathway for Treating Inflammatory Diseases

Congratulations to Liz Ortiz and Travis Wiles! Scientists at the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences at UC Irvine report that they have developed a powerful new tool, called Phollow, that lets scientists watch viral activity in the gut microbiome of living animals with unprecedented precision—down to a single viral particle. Led by Travis Wiles, PhD, assistant professor, the study … offe…

Congratulations to Rémi Buisson and Lavanya Manjunath! A study by researchers in the UC Irvine School of Medicine examines how our bodies activate defense mechanisms only in the presence of a virus, ensuring that uninfected, healthy cells are not harmed. Professor Rémi Buisson and graduate student Lavanya Manjunath talk about the findings here. The goal is to identify new mechanisms that cells ca…

New Molecule Used in Cancer Treatment Shows Promise for Treating HIV “If you ever stop taking therapy, the virus can come roaring back,” says Matthew Marsden, a virologist at the University of California, Irvine. [Paul] Wender, Marsden, and others began to look at compounds that might be more effective. They turned to EBC-46, a compound found in its natural form in the seeds of blushwood trees fr…

Congratulations to Rémi Buisson, Elodie Bournique and Ambrocio Sanchez! Newly discovered mechanism triggers immune response in cells with damaged DNA A research team from the University of California, Irvine has revealed a previously unknown mechanism that triggers an inflammatory immune response in cells when their DNA is damaged. This discovery deepens the understanding of a new type of cell si…

Congratulations to Rémi Buisson and Sunwoo Oh! New antiviral therapies on horizon thanks to medical discovery UC Irvine researchers have developed a new understanding of the human antiviral defense response seen as pivotal for the development of new antiviral therapies. “Recognizing how cells recognize viral genomes and activate the signaling cascades that initiate antiviral defenses is crucial f…

Roberto Tinoco, PhDAssociate Professor, Molecular Biology and BiochemistryAssistant Program Leader, Systems, Pathways and Targets (SPT)Tuesday, October 15, 12:00 – 1:00 PM Via Zoom – Registration Link

Funds will support projects with significant clinical translational potential Faculty members from the schools of medicine, biological sciences, pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences, information & computer sciences and engineering will mentor and support pre- and postdoctoral fellows in the training program. They include (from left) Chen Li, Xiaoyu Shi, Kalpna Gupta, Gopi Meenakshisundaram, Orkide …

Please join us in congratulating Travis Wiles, who was awarded a Hellman Fellowship last week. This fellowship is presented to promising Assistant Professors who show capacity for great distinction in their research across the ten UC campuses.

New tools can detect microstructural changes in aging and Alzheimer’s disease brain neurons The UCI School of Medicine team members who helped develop new viral vectors that will advance neural circuit mapping include, from left, front row: Michele Wu, Alexis Bouin, Ginny Wu, Qiao Ye and Xiangmin Xu; back row: Todd Holmes, Bert Semler, Orkide…

Please join us in congratulating Nir Drayman on his newly published paper “mSphere of Influence:Virology in the noise—how cell-to-cell variability impacts viral infection outcomes“. Please click Read More for the link to the paper. Link to published paper.

Please join us in congratulating José Morán, recipient of the Rose Hills Foundation Science & Engineering Fellowship. The fellowship provides financial support and recognizes and rewards UCI’s most meritorious graduate students who are pursuing a PhD or Master’s degree in the life or natural sciences, or engineering.  This fellowship is awarded to underrepresented students in&#823…

Please join us in congratulating Paul Gershon and his lab on their newly published paper that reveals the atomic structure and assembly pathway of a protein that constitutes around 14% of the mass of vaccinia virus. Please click Read More for the link to the paper.

Please join us in congratulating Stephanie Salazar (Koyuncu Lab) on her appointment to the Virology T32 training grant. Stephanie joins José Morán and Gema Olivarria who were reappointed to the Virology T32 training grant. Please join us in congratulating Lavanya Manjunath (Buisson Lab) on her appointment to the CVR Graduate Fellowship.

Congratulations to Tom Lane, CVR Director, and Kim Green who received a two-year Alzheimer’s Association grant to support their novel research! UCI biologists Kim Green and Tom Lane have been awarded $250,000 from the Alzheimer’s Association to assess how COVID-19 affects the onset and severity of Alzheimer’s disease. Decades of research indicate that viral or…

Dr. Matt Marsden, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, has been appointed as Associate Director of the Center for Virus Research (CVR). Dr. Marsden is an outstanding virologist studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with HIV latency.  Dr. Marsden’s research is focused on viral persistence and pathogenesis. He is particularly interested in developing…