B.S., Medical Technology, 2008, Louisiana Tech University

Research: Hematogenous dissemination of human cytomegalovirus in infected monocytes is essential for life-long viral persistence.  The strategy human cytomegalovirus uses to promote spread from the blood in infected monocytes links viral persistence to viral-mediated disease.  The focus of my research is to investigate the early mechanisms employed by the virus to trigger the biological changes in target monocytes that promote viral spread.