My name is Aron Lukacher. I'm the
chair of the Department of Microbiology
and Immunology at the College of
Medicine. My lab studies a fatal brain
disease caused by a virus that only
infects humans and appears in patients
with multiple sclerosis treated with
drugs that depress the immune system.
This is important because there is no
animal model that allows us to study the
root causes of disease to date. My
laboratory has developed a mouse model
that mimics almost all the key features
of this disease to allow us to figure
out what's going on. My research team
which consists of graduate students and
M.D., Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows
is working to identify the cells in the
brain that are infected by this virus,
the fate of these virus infected cells,
and the components of the immune system
that control the infection. I'm excited
about studying this disease called, PML
because by learning the details of how
the virus and the immune system interact
caused or protect from this disease,
we'll be able to develop new
therapeutics to prevent and control it.
I'm Dr. Aron Lukacher, I'm inspired to
do research in viral immunology and
diseases caused by viruses.
[Music]
