Hua Zhu
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, USA
Biography
Hua Zhu obtained Ph.D. degree from Columbia University and completed his postdoctoral studies from Princeton University. He has been working on herpesviruses for over 20 years. He started with studying human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate-early gene function. He performed pioneer works on global cellular transcriptional responses to viral infection using differential display and gene chip technology. One important discovery from these studies is how HCMV infection activates large numbers of interferon-stimulated genes. Later, he applied the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) technology to study HCMV and varicella zoster virus (VZV) gene function,tropism and pathogenesis. He is one of the first to construct for HCMV and VZV BACs. He also used humanized mouse model and luciferase assay to study viral replication in vivo. He was first to discover VZV neurotropic factor which leads to a novel neuro-attenuated VZV vaccine candidate develop. He has published over 70 research articles, reviews and book chapters.
Abstract
Abstract : Varicella-Zoster Virus Tissue Tropisms and Neuroattenuated Vaccine Development