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| Name |
Griffin, Diane E. |
| Location
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Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |
| Primary Field
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Microbial Biology |
| Secondary Field
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Immunology and Inflammation |
 Election Citation
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Griffin is a world leader in the study of viral pathogenesis. She has elucidated mechanisms that control sindbis virus neurovirulence. Her pioneering work on measles virus has revealed the basis for the profound immunosuppression caused by this infection. |
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Research Interests
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Dr. Griffin's research on RNA viruses that cause two different acute diseases (measles and alphavirus encephalitis) seeks to understand the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, recovery and development of protective immunity. These studies involve identification and characterization of viral determinants of virulence and host responses to infection in animal model systems. Both measles virus and encephalitis viruses cause acute infections with disease lasting about a week. Immune-mediated clearance of infectious virus occurs promptly but viral RNA persists after apparent recovery. The mechanism(s) of non-cytolytic viral clearance from mature neurons during recovery from encephalomyelitis is currently under study. Viral RNA persistence may lead to unexpected late complications of infection but during recovery from measles virus infection continued stimulation of the immune response may also contribute to development of lifelong protective immunity. |
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