Joshua T Schiffer, M.D., M.Sc.

A herpes virologist’s guide to SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Human herpesviruses are chronic persistent infections which have dramatically different patterns of transmission, reactivation and disease manifestations. Over the last decade, our group has used viral dynamic modeling to capture the interactions of several of these viruses (HSV-2, CMV, EBV and HHV6) with the host immune system. We also developed methods to simulate therapies and various prevention modalities. These studies allowed our group to move rapidly into COVID-19 research to study the timing and intensity of immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, the optimal timing of therapy, the role of superspreading, the impact of masking and vaccination on transmission dynamics, the dynamics of endogenous antibody response against the virus and the local epidemiology in King County, Washington.

Biography