Chikungunya and Zika Viruses

His research on chikungunya virus (CHIKV) preceded the ongoing epidemics that have recently infected over 1M people in the Americas. His development of patented infectious clones of this CHIKV placed his group at the forefront of research on this virus. They have distributed these research tools to other groups in an effort to better understand the epidemic. They have published over 30 papers on many aspects of chikungunya with collaborators from multiple institutes in different countries. Dr. Vanlandingham’s research is focused on the interactions between arboviruses, the mosquito vectors, and the vertebrate host. Infectious clone technology is used to identify the molecular determinants of infection of alphaviruses, bunyaviruses, and flaviviruses. There are currently four areas of research in her laboratory: 1) Rift Valley fever virus vaccine development; 2) examining vector competence of North American mosquitoes for Japanese encephalitis virus; 3) rationale vaccine design based on characterizing yellow fever virus to identify molecular determinants of infectivity and transmissibility by Ae. aegypti mosquitoes; and 4) assessing CHIKV-mosquito interactions and virus inactivation procedures to ensure blood transfusion safety.Dana obtained her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Colorado State University and her Ph.D from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2006.

1. History of Chikungunya 2. Transmission Cycle 3. Human Diseases 4. Chikv in Africa 5. Chikv in Asia 6. Chikv in Europe 7. Chikv in Americas 8. Chikv Genetics 9. Diagnostics and Laboratory Techniques 10. Animal Models 11. Vaccine Candidates 12. The Future