DrLaura Martin Sancho

The lab is particularly interested in studying mosquito-borne flaviviruses, including Dengue, Zika and West Nile virus. Once restricted to tropical areas, deforestation and global warming have propelled their demographic spread. Currently, these viruses are the most prevalent and fastest spreading mosquito-borne viruses causing over 390 million of human infections every year.

The lab is interested in addressing five fundamental questions:
1) How do human cells control flavivirus replication?
2) What are the critical virus-host conflicts that define flavivirus pathogenesis?
3) What factors control the interspecies transmission potential of these viruses?
4) What viral and host factors influence the outcome of flavivirus infection and potentially of other viruses?
5) What is the potential of host-directed antivirals to prevent the replication and spread of these viruses?

To answer these questions, the Martin-Sancho lab integrates expertise in systems biology, comparative genomics and molecular virology, and utilizes clinically relevant models of infection. Ultimately, we hope that our work will lead to a significant shift in our understanding of flavivirus control, will help predict viral interspecies transmission events and provide new avenues for the development of much needed antiviral therapies.