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Laboratory of Viral Diseases

Special Projects Team

The Special Projects Team (SPT) within the Laboratory of Viral Diseases (LVD), is dedicated to research and development, and the federal reporting of public health virology data from the Wadsworth Center. The unit is directed by the Chief of the LVD, Dr. Kirsten St. George. Research investigations undertaken by staff in this unit are commonly extra-murally funded. Data reporting is to NESS, NRVSS, PHIN and other federal data banks, that in turn are collated for national disease surveillance purposes. Projects undertaken by the SPT may be worked on exclusively by SPT or LVD staff, together with other laboratories at the Wadsworth Center, or in collaboration with colleagues at other institutions or commercial companies.

Current projects include the investigation of the dynamics of evolution of drug resistance in influenza viruses, using quantitative, mutation-specific, real-time RT-PCR assays developed in this laboratory. Initial efforts focused on the H274Y mutation in seasonal H1N1 influenza and more recently are now also encompassing work on the H275Y mutation in the 2009 H1N1 subtype. In collaboration with the Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Control Program at the New York State Department of Health, a study is also ongoing comparing prophylactic regimens for influenza in long-term care facilities and their propensity for the induction of resistance in influenza.

In a collaborative NIH-funded grant with industry partners, members of the team are developing low density arrays for the detection and subtyping of influenza viruses. Work is also in progress for including simultaneous antiviral susceptibility analysis, with the ultimate goal of on-chip PCR and detection. A similar project is being planned for the detection of multiple viral agents of encephalitis.

Dr. St. George and Dr. David Wentworth, also at the Wadsworth Center, are collaborators on a project with the JCVI and NIH to sequence the entire genome of 2009 H1N1 influenza viruses in samples received at the LVD laboratories. Sequences are uploaded to GenBank as soon as they are available, and thus far almost 200 samples from the LVD have been successfully sequenced and been made publicly available.

The laboratory work for an RO1 grant with Dr. Alison Morris at the University of Pittsburgh will begin soon, investigating the relationship between viral infections and the development of emphysema in HIV-positive persons. Past projects have included a NIH-funded UO1 grant, in collaboration with Dr. Ian Lipkin at Columbia University, for the development of microarrays for the detection of respiratory viruses, the investigation of human bocavirus in tonsilar tissues and archived autopsy tissues, and the role of respiratory pathogens in pediatric deaths.

Select Publications

  • Operario DJ, Moser M, St. George K (2010): Highly sensitive and quantitative detection of the H274Y Oseltamivir Resistance Mutation in Seasonal A/H1N1 Influenza. J. Clin. Microbiol. 48: 3517-24.
  • Faden H, Ramani R, Lamson D, and St.George K (2010): A Pseudo-Outbreak of Adenovirus Infection in a Neonatal Intensive Care unit (NICU) Due to a False Positive Antigen Detection Test. J. Clin. Microbiol. 48:4251-2.
  • Albariño C, Palacios G, Khristova ML, Erickson BR, Carroll SA, Comer JA, Hui J, Briese T, St. George K, Ksiazek TG, Lipkin WI,and Nichol ST.(2010):   High diversity and ancient common ancestry of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus.  EID 16: 1093-1100.
  • Ghedin E, Wentworth D, Halpin RA, Lin X, Bera J, DePasse J, Fitch A, Griesemer S, Hine E, Katzel DA, Overton L, Proudfoot K, Sitz J, Sczcypinski B, St. George K, Spiro DJ, Holmes EC(2010): Unseasonal Transmission of H3N2 Influenza A Virus During the Swine-Origin H1N1 Pandemic. J Virol 84: 5715-5718.
  • Nelson M, Spiro D, Wentworth D, Fan J, Beck E, St. George K, Ghedin E, Halpin R, Bera J, Hine E, Proudfoot K, Stockwell T, Lin X, Griesemer S, Bose M, Jurgens L, Kumar S, Viboud C, Holmes E, Henrickson K (2009): The early diversification of influenza A/H1N1pdm. PLoS Currents Influenza. 2009 Nov 9:RRN1126.
  • Khiabanian H, Farrell GM, St. George K, Rabadan R: Differences in Patient Age Distribution between Influenza A Subtypes. PLoS ONE 2009, 4(8): e6832.
  • Ghedin E, Fitch A, Boyne A, Griesemer S, DePasse J, Bera J, Zhang X, Halpin RA, Smit M, Jennings L, St. George K, Holmes EC, Spiro DJ: ---Mixed infection and the genesis of influenza diversity. J. Virol. 2009, 83: 8832-41.
  • Ginocchio C and St. George K: Likelihood that an unsubtypeable influenza A result in the Luminex xTAG Respiratory Virus Panel is indicative of novel A/H1N1 (swine-like) influenza. J. Clin. Microbiol. 2009, 47: 2347-8.
  • Clément N, Battaglioli G, Jensen RL, Johnson PR, St. George K, Linden RM: Prevalence of Human Bocavirus in Human Tonsils and Adenoids. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2009, 15: 1149-50.
  • Nelson MI, Viboud C, Simonsen L, Bennett RT, Griesemer SB, St. George K, et al: Multiple reassortment events in the evolutionary history of H1N1 influenza A virus since 1918. PLoS Pathogens 2008, 4(2) e1000012. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000012.
  • Nelson MI, Simonsen L, Viboud C, Miller MA, Taylor J, St. George K, Griesemer SB, Ghedin E, Sengamalay NA, Spiro DJ, Volkov I, Grenfell BT, Lipman DJ, Taubenberger JK, Holmes EC: Stochastic processes are key determinants of short-term evolution in influenza A virus. PLoS Pathogens 2006, 2(12) : e125. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat 0020125.