Laboratory Summary: Research in the Karijolich lab is focused on nucleic acid-based mechanisms of antiviral and antitumor immunity. This includes investigating how gene regulatory processes serve as cell-intrinsic barriers to infection, as well as the genetic and biochemical regulation of nucleic acid-sensing innate immune receptors. We primarily study these events using the human oncogenic gammaherpesvirus Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), which is a prominent cause of AIDS-associated cancers. In addition, we have recently expanded our studies to include viruses of emerging and pandemic threat potential, such as Influenza and Poxviruses. The long-term goal of my laboratory is to leverage our findings for the development of molecular therapies capable of enhancing host defense against pathogens and cancer.
Our work is multidisciplinary and combines virology, immunology, RNA biochemistry, and high-throughput sequencing and proteomic approaches.
The lab is within the Division of Molecular Pathogenesis in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. We are also affiliated with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.