My team’s main goal is to create and improve diagnostic tools for detecting and quantifying viral infections and drug resistant virus, using next-generation sequencing approaches in the area of “pandemic preparedness.” Our current work entails a large number of collaborators, is establishing biobanks, and in the use of clinical and environmental specimens in our studies. Because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, current research has concentrated on developing qPCR assays, targeted Spike mutation analysis, and whole genome Illumina sequencing of SARS-CoV-2. Ongoing research entails whole-genome sequencing of several viruses with pandemic and epidemic potential, including respiratory and blood-borne viruses.
Our group’s main research interests are to understand (1) the implications of genetic diversity and molecular properties of RNA viruses and the role this plays in immunopathogenesis, disease progression, and clearance, (2) the development of drug resistance, with a special focus on HIV drug resistance, and (3) the viral epidemiology of HIV, hepatitis C virus, and other RNA viruses. A significant portion of our research efforts are dedicated to public health, with an emphasis on HIV prevention, control, and surveillance. We collaborate in multidisciplinary teams with colleagues primarily in two Sub-Saharan African nations, Ethiopia and Guinea-Bissau.
Group Members
Sviataslau Sasinovich
Dawit Assefa Arimide
Sara Karlson
Malik Sallam
Ander Widell
Ilili Jemal Abdulahi