John H. Connor
Associate Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine
Dr. Connor’s laboratory studies several cytoplasmically replicating viruses. They are particularly interested in understanding the response of the circulating immune system to challenge by hemorrhagic fever virus infection. His collaborations with researchers at USAMRIID have led to studies on genome-wide responses of non-human primates to infection with Ebola, Lassa, or Marburg virus, CDC category A pathogens with a high mortality rate. They have identified a number of up regulated inflammation-related pathways. With funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Connor studies the tricks that viruses use to dominate their cellular hosts. He has been working collaboratively with researchers at BU‘s National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory (NEIDL) and at other research institutions, with a particular focus on the Ebola virus.