Talk Title: A Population Genomics Approach to Understand Norovirus Emergence and Immunity

Speaker: Dr. Gabriel Parra, Principal Investigator at the Division of Viral Products, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Abstract: The fast-evolving nature of RNA viruses facilitates the emergence of new human pathogens and constitutes a major obstacle for vaccine design and implementation. In our group we use large-scale genomics, next-generation sequencing technologies, organoids, animal models,  immunoassays, and different bioinformatic approaches to study the evolution, emergence and antigenic diversification of human noroviruses, a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in all age groups. By providing parallelism with other RNA viruses, I will discuss how the methodologies utilized by our group could be readily applied to study other medically relevant viruses.

Speaker Bio: Gabriel I. Parra is a Principal Investigator at the Division of Viral Products, Food and Drug Administration, USA. He received his degree in Biology from the School of Sciences, Paraguay, his PhD in Microbiology from the School of Sciences, Uruguay, and completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, USA. His research is focused on epidemiology, genomics, evolution, and immunity of viruses associated with gastroenteritis.

Following the talk, interested students will have the chance to engage in a discussion with Dr. Parra about pursuing research with the FDA. This is a unique chance to explore potential avenues for collaboration and gain valuable insights into FDA-related research opportunities.