Laboratory of Virology

Bloom Research Group

The laboratory investigates the pathogenesis and biology of viruses belonging to the tickborne encephalitis (TBE) virus complex of flaviviruses. Endemic throughout much of the northern hemisphere, these viruses can cause severe encephalitis, meningitis, or hemorrhagic fevers with relatively high mortality rates. Our research utilizes in vitro, ex vivo, and animal models (mouse and tick) to examine the biology of acute and persistent infection in mammalian and arthropod systems. Understanding these aspects of virus biology will increase understanding of these important pathogens and may provide targets for the design of countermeasures. Methods employed include confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, electron cryotomography, immunohistochemistry, microarray analysis, nucleic acid sequencing, and molecular virology. 

Marshall E. Bloom, M.D. (He/Him/His)

Associate Director for Science Management, Rocky Mountain Laboratories
Chief, Biology of Vector-Borne Viruses Section

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Education:

M.D., 1971, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Dr. Bloom received his M.D. in 1971 from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., and then joined the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) of NIAID in 1972 as a research associate. From 1975 to 1977, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the NIAID Laboratory of the Biology of Viruses on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD.

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Marshall E. Bloom, M.D.

Dylan Paul Flather, Ph.D. (He/Him/His)

IRTA Postdoctoral Fellow

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Education:

Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences (Molecular Virology), University of California, Irvine
B.S., Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder

My research interests are focused on the host cell proteins that promote positive-sense single stranded RNA virus replication. My current projects include the identification and characterization of these host dependency factors in human cells, and in the cells of reservoir or vector species, for tick-borne flaviviruses and betacoronaviruses. The ultimate goal of this type of research is to...

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Missiani J. Ochwoto, Ph.D. (He/Him/His)

Visiting Fellow

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Languages Spoken: Kiswahili

I joined NIH, NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in 2021 as a visiting fellow. My work is developing ex-vivo organ cultures from ticks that will be used to understand the biology of vector-host interactions and to develop countermeasures for control of tick borne flaviviruses.

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Danielle K. Offerdahl, B.S., M.S. (She/Her/Hers)

Microbiologist

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My projects focus on the biology of acute and persistent arboviral infections. The projects aim to explicate the role of lipids during vector-borne viral infection, examine the effects of viral induced host protein production, and potentially identify targets for antiviral development.

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Stacey L. P. Scroggs, Ph.D., M.P.H. (She/Her/Hers)

IRTA Postdoctoral Fellow

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I study the evolution and persistence of RNA viruses with a focus on flaviviruses. Currently, I am developing an animal model to study chronic Powassan disease.

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Philip E. Stewart, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist

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My research interests are divided into two research projects focused on pathogen transmission by ticks: 1) Can the tick microbiome inhibit or enhance the ability of microbial pathogens to infect the tick? 2) Genetic manipulation of ticks to reduce pathogen transmission.

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Former Research Group Members

Jeffrey M. Grabowski, Ph.D. 

Ciera Morris, B.A. 

Luwanika Mlera, Ph.D. University of Arizona 

Benjamin L. Kendall, Mayo University

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