Doug is interested in characterizing the safety, efficacy, and mechanism of action of a novel single-cycle encapsidation-defective vaccine candidate (RepliVAX WN) for West Nile (WN) encephalitis. Studies are currently ongoing assessing the safety and efficacy of RepliVAX WN in a non-human primate model, and the duration of RepliVAX WN-induced immunity in a hamster model. Future studies will utilize RepliVAX WN and other WN virus-like particles to examine the early events in West Nile virus (WNV) / RepliVAX WN infection. In particular, he is interested in identifying the initial cells infected by WNV, and the behavior of these cells once infected. He will be examining the migration of these cells in vivo, the role these cells play in the induction of both innate and adaptive immune responses.