Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section
Dr. Taubenberger received a B.S. in biology from George Mason University in 1982. He earned his medical degree in 1986 and his Ph.D. in 1987, both from the Medical College of Virginia. He completed a residency in pathology at the National Cancer Institute and holds dual board certifications in anatomic pathology and in molecular genetic pathology from the American Board of Pathology and the American Board of Medical Genetics. Prior to coming to NIAID in 2006, he served as chair of the Department of Molecular Pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC, a position he held since 1994. Dr. Taubenberger’s research interests include influenza virus biology, evolution, pathophysiology, and surveillance. He also has clinical interests in the development and implementation of molecular diagnostic assays for neoplasia and infectious diseases.
Description of Research Program
The Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section seeks to address fundamental questions of influenza virus pathogenesis in different animal hosts, including the mapping of viral virulence factors and mutations associated with host adaptation, as well as characterizing the host response to infection. The role of secondary bacterial infections in influenza infection is being examined. Experiments are also being performed to evaluate novel therapeutics for the treatment of severe influenza and to evaluate the significance of heterosubtypic and heterotypic immunity to influenza viral antigens.
The section studies viral evolution and fitness through the development of improved viral surveillance and genomics. These efforts employ both in vitro assays and experimental animal model systems. These studies seek to understand the dynamics of viral evolution in different hosts, including birds, mammals, and the evolutionary dynamics of human pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses.
Since completing the sequencing of the 1918 pandemic viral genome, the section has maintained an interest in archaevirology and is seeking to characterize pre- and post-1918 influenza virus genomes from archival samples.
The section also performs translational research involving clinical trials addressing pandemic and seasonal influenza viral infections in patients with and without immunocompromise. These investigations include characterization of the development of antiviral resistance mutations, intra-host viral evolution, and characterization of the host immune response. Postmortem examinations of lung tissue from fatal cases of pandemic and seasonal influenza are employed to understand the development of severe influenza viral disease in humans. Finally, the section continues to develop novel molecular genetic assays for influenza viruses for diagnosis, surveillance, and mutation screening.
Together, such investigations will help shed light on the emergence, evolution, and severity of influenza pandemics as well as seasonal influenza.
For more information, read NIAID Lab Attacks Flu From Different Directions.
Major Areas of Research
- Influenza pathogenesis
- Animal models of influenza infection
- Influenza virus genomics and evolution
- Viral surveillance
- Archaevirology
- Influenza diagnostics
- Influenza in the immunocompromised host
Memberships
- American Society for Microbiology
- American Academy of Microbiology
- Association of American Physicians
Editorial Boards
Research Group Members
Back row: David Morens, Judy Easterbrook, Matthew Memoli, John Kash, Louis Schwartzman, Gerry Jin
Middle row: Ruixue Wang, Rani Athota, Zong-Mei Sheng, Eleca Dunham, Jeffery Taubenberger, Sally Davis, Yongli Xiao
Front row: Qi Li, Genevieve Allen, Tyler Bristol, Rebecca Dunfee
(Not shown: Brett Jagger, Dan Chertow, Aline Sandouk, Katie Proudfoot, Susan Reed)
Selected Recent Publications
To view a complete listing, visit PubMed.
Taubenberger JK, Kash JC. Influenza virus evolution, host adaptation, and pandemic formation. Cell Host Microbe. 2010 Jun 25;7(6):440-51.
Jagger BW, Memoli MJ, Sheng ZM, Qi L, Hrabal RJ, Allen GL, Dugan VG, Wang R, Digard P, Kash JC, Taubenberger JK. The PB2-E627K mutation attenuates viruses containing the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic polymerase. MBio. 2010 May 18;1(1). pii: e00067-10.
Kash JC, Qi L, Dugan VG, Jagger BW, Hrabal RJ, Memoli MJ, Morens DM, Taubenberger JK. Prior infection with classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses is associated with protective immunity to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2010 May 1;4(3):121-7.
Memoli MJ, Hrabal RJ, Hassantoufighi A, Eichelberger MC, Taubenberger JK. Rapid selection of oseltamivir- and peramivir-resistant pandemic H1N1 virus during therapy in 2 immunocompromised hosts. Clin Infect Dis. 2010 May 1;50(9):1252-5.
Gill JR, Sheng ZM, Ely SF, Guinee DG, Beasley MB, Suh J, Deshpande C, Mollura DJ, Morens DM, Bray M, Travis WD, Taubenberger JK. Pulmonary pathologic findings of fatal 2009 pandemic influenza A/H1N1 viral infections. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2010 Feb;134(2):235-43.
Dunham EJ, Dugan VG, Kaser EK, Perkins SE, Brown IH, Holmes EC, Taubenberger JK. Different evolutionary trajectories of European avian-like and classical swine H1N1 influenza A viruses. J Virol. 2009 Jun;83(11):5485-94.
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