Mentor: Sabrina Tan, MD

JC Polyomavirus (JCPyV) is the causative agent of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), a severe demyelinating disease. In most healthy adults, JCPyV asymptomatically infects the kidneys but in cases of severe immunosuppression, viral reactivation occurs with altered tropism for the brain. My research focuses on characterizing the host and viral factors that enable JCPyV evasion of immune responses and its ability to traffic to and cross the blood-brain barrier.