Prof. Craig B. Wilen

Dr. Wilen is currently an Assistant Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology and is focused on the host-pathogen interactions of RNA viruses including coronavirus and norovirus. Dr. Wilen received his A.B in Biology and Economics at Washington University in St. Louis, his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His residency training was in clinical pathology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO. His postdoctoral studies were conducted in the laboratory of Herbert "Skip" Virgin in the Department of Pathology & Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine where he studied the pathogenesis of norovirus, the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis. Dr. Wilen discovered CD300lf as the first receptor for a norovirus and identified intestinal tuft cells as the physiologic target cell for mouse norovirus infection. Current work in the Wilen lab is focused on identifying novel therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV2 and elucidating mechanisms COVID-19 pathogenesis. The Wilen lab utilizes a diverse array of techniques to achieve these goals with SARS-CoV2 in the BSL3 including single-cell RNA sequencing, genome-wide CRISPR screening, organoid culture, and transgenic mouse models.