Alison Kell
Assistant Professor
Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
University of New Mexico
Lab website: https://thekelllab.org/
“Understanding hantavirus virulence through host-specific innate immune activation”
Dr. Alison Kell completed her Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. She then made her way to the Pacific Northwest to complete her graduate work with Dr. Gael Kurath, developing novel in vivo superinfection assays to determine phenotypic and genetic correlates of viral fitness for the salmonid rhabdovirus, Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis virus. To fully appreciate the impact of host immune pressure on viral fitness and evolution, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Gale, Jr. at the University of Washington as a postdoctoral fellow. She is now excited to bring her independent research program to the University of New Mexico to study the molecular mechanisms underlying divergent host responses to orthohantavirus infection.