Laura Hertel, PhD

Professor
Pediatrics
[email protected]
Research Description: 

We study the tropism and pathogenesis of human cytomegalovirus (CMV).
Our current goals are to understand the mechanisms supporting CMV transmission from host to host and CMV spread within infected individuals. We seek to identify the cell types targeted during initial entry, the cellular proteins that mediate infection-induced cell-cell fusion and the viral factors that support or antagonize infection.

Primary Thematic Area: 
Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Research Summary: 
We seek to identify the mechanisms and players supporting human cytomegalovirus transmission, spread and pathogenesis.

Websites

Publications: 

Genome sequences of human cytomegalovirus strain TB40/E variants propagated in fibroblasts and epithelial cells.

Virology journal

Al Qaffas A, Camiolo S, Vo M, Aguiar A, Ourahmane A, Sorono M, Davison AJ, McVoy MA, Hertel L

LoReTTA, a user-friendly tool for assembling viral genomes from PacBio sequence data.

Virus evolution

Al Qaffas A, Nichols J, Davison AJ, Ourahmane A, Hertel L, McVoy MA, Camiolo S

Genome Sequence of Human Cytomegalovirus Ig-KG-H2, a Variant of Strain KG Propagated in the Presence of Neutralizing Antibodies.

Microbiology resource announcements

Al Qaffas A, Camiolo S, Nichols J, Davison AJ, Ourahmane A, Cui X, Schleiss MR, Hertel L, Dittmer DP, McVoy MA