Kuppeveld
Virus-host interactions, antiviral drugs, and vaccine development
The central themes in my research are the interaction between viruses and their host , and the development of antiviral strategies. My work mainly focuses on picornaviruses, a large family of (+)RNA viruses that includes many clinically and economically important pathogens for humans (e.g. poliovirus, EV-A71, coxsackievirus, EV-D68, rhinovirus) and animals (e.g. FMDV, EMCV).
My current research focuses on 1) virus structure, receptors and entry mechanisms, 2) viral genome replication, 3) development of antiviral drugs, and 4) innate host responses and viral countermeasures. For these studies, we make use of state-of-the-art virological, biochemical, cell biological (e.g. CRISPR-Cas9 KO, haploid cells, siRNA screens), microscopy (e.g. life cell imaging and EM tomography), drug screen and structure-based drug design approaches.
Theses
