About Virology@PSU: 

Virology@PSU represents the diverse interests of Penn State researchers who work on viruses. The goal of Virology@PSU is to bring together groups that focus on all aspects of virology. This includes molecular and cellular studies of viruses, as well as the integrated virology of virus-host interactions in ecosystems and microbiomes, and mathematical models of the spread of disease. Importantly, Virology@PSU focuses on bringing together the trainees in these labs, to provide them with opportunities for networking, public speaking, and getting feedback on their work in progress. Virology@PSU is part of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD) at Pennsylvania State University.

Virology@PSU achieves these goals by:

• hosting a monthly seminar series with presentations by students and postdocs, with participants spanning the above research groups
• fostering communication and advancing research by introducing lab members and their areas of expertise
• advertising virology-related talks, conferences, and other events through its mailing list and website
• promoting undergraduate participation in virology research via multiple courses, lab research projects, and monthly seminars
• supporting workshops for the campus community on virology-related topics
• providing a link to the virology community at the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine and other campuses

Funding:

These efforts are made possibly by generous support from the Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences. If you have suggestions for further improvements, please contact Dr. Moriah Szpara.

History:

Virology@PSU builds on a long-running seminar series by a group of molecular virologists on campus. This monthly meeting, encompassing labs from the departments of BMB and VBS, also promoted talks by students and postdocs on their research in progress. Virology@PSU continues this aim of promoting and improving trainee research, and it expands the participants to now include labs working on diverse virus-host interactions, including ecological and modeling aspects of virus research. At present, Virology@PSU encompasses labs from over 12 departments, spanning three colleges.

Read more:

Read more about the labs, faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates involved in Virology@PSU here.