Welcome to the Bates Lab

We are interested in the interactions between viruses and their host cells. We use a combination of molecular, cell biologic, immunologic and genetic tools to understand how viruses invade host cells and how they evade or are recognized by host defenses.

We work on a number of pathogenic emerging viruses. Previous questions have focused on filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg viruses) and SARS-CoV-2. The majority of our current research pertain to viruses in the Bunyavirales order. A significant number of these viruses are highly pathogenic in humans and cause a wide range of severe pathologies, including encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever.  Our projects focus on seven viruses from four genera.

• Mammarenaviruses: Machupo virus

• Bandaviruses: SFTSV and Heartland viruses

• Hantaviruses: Andes and Puumala viruses

• Orthobunyaviruses: La Crosse and Jamestown canyon viruses

To address the growing threat these viruses pose to public health, we investigate questions pertaining to disease prevention and virus-host interactions. 

• Producing Vaccines to prevent disease

  • We produce recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) expressing bunyaviral glycoproteins, in addition to using nucleoside-modified mRNA and lipid nanoparticle:mRNA vaccines.

  • We analyze humoral and cellular responses produced by vaccination in animal models to assess the durability and efficacy of the vaccines.

• Understanding Virus Host Interactions

  • We study how viruses infect cells by identifying and characterizing the host factors needed for viral entry, and by analyzing how viral proteins are processed by the host cells.

  • We use unbiased whole genome interrogation methods to identify and characterize host factors needed for viral entry and to analyze viral glycoprotein trafficking and processing.

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