Laurent Coscoy
Faculty Associate Director
Associate Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis, Associate Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology
lcoscoy[at]berkeley.edu
Evasion of host immune response recognition plays a key role in the establishment of systemic viral infection. Many viruses have evolved complex strategies for this evasion (one example being the down-regulation of cell surface MHC-I). Such strategies are readily observable among the herpesviruses, a family of large DNA viruses that efficiently produce persistent infections and disease in their host.
Our laboratory focuses its energy to understand the molecular mechanisms of immune evasion employed by this family of viruses. This will improve our understanding of viral pathogenesis and provide insights into basic cellular and immunological processes. Additionally, this could lead to new-antiviral strategies and the ability to exploit viral function as a tool with medical relevance.