Prof. Ravi Mahalingam

Currently, my laboratory is involved in identification of cell types that transport varicella to skin and ganglia during varicella. During the past 10 years, I have been characterizing the phenotype of the T-cells that respond to varicella reactivation and have been identifying signaling molecules that recruit T cells to ganglia. Because VZV and SVV are highly species-specific, my laboratory is also involved in the preparation of a VZV-SVV chimeric virus to enable direct studies of VZV infection in primates and to help identify specific regions of the VZV and SVV genomes that are responsible for species specificity