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How Viruses Promote Cancer Development?

Approximately 15% of cancer cases are linked to viral infections. The two herpes viruses we study, Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, also known as HHV-8) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV, also known as HHV-4), are associated with an increasing number of human malignancies. The research interests in the lab are to study the functional interactions between viral proteins and the cellular machinery, which control both the viral life cycle and tumorigenesis.  The goal of our lab is to expand our knowledge of viral infections and to utilize this knowledge for the development and use of drugs that specifically target virally infected cells.