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Dr. Aguilar

Patricia V. Aguilar, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology

University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Blvd,
Keiller Building
Galveston, TX 77555-0609

Office: (409) 772-2825
Fax: (409) 747-2429
pvaguila@utmb.edu

Professional Education

Degree Institution Field of Study Graduation Year
B.S.Ph.-RPh.

Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

 Pharmacy and Biochemistry 1994
Ph.D. University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX Microbiology and Immunology 2005

Honors

1999 Fulbright Scholarship
1999 Encyclopedia Britannica Scholarship
2001 Professional Enhancement Grant, Flubright Commission
2003-2005 Pre-doctoral McLaughlin Fellowship, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
2004 Arthur V. Simmang Academic Scholarship, Graduate School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
2005 Center for Tropical Diseases Graduate Student Award, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
2005 James W. McLaughlin Award for Research Excellence in Infection and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
2005 William A. and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation Award, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
2005-2007 Northeast Biodefense Center Postdoctoral Fellowship
2005 Co-author in the Lancet Paper of the Year: "Characterization of the reconstructed 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic virus"
2006 James H. Nakano Citation, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Co-author in the Outstanding Paper of the Year 2005: "Characterization of the reconstructed 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic virus"
2006 U.S. Patent "Chimeric Sindbis-Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus and uses thereof"
2007 Scherer/Hardy Young Investigator Award presented by the American Committee on Arthropod-borne viruses, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Philadelphia, November 2007.
2009 American Society for Virology 2009 Travel award for Latin American Scholars to attend the ASV meeting in Vancouver, Canada

Professional Affiliations

2010-Present Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, UTMB
2010-Present Member, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, UTMB
2010-Present Scientist, Institute for Human Infectious and Immunity, UTMB
2011-Present Member of the Scientific Review Board, Naval Medical Research Unit-6, Lima, Peru.
2008-2010 Research Scientist, Naval Medical Research Unit-6 Lima, Peru
2009-2010 Member of the Institutional Review Board, Naval Medical Research Unit-6, Lima-Peru.
2006-2008 Instructor, Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine-New York
2005-2006 Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine-New York

Research Interests

My main research interest is to better understand the mechanisms that enable emerging viruses to evade host immune responses and cause disease, and to identify cellular factors that contribute to viral infection. Viruses that are currently being investigated in my laboratory include bunyaviruses, alphaviruses and arenaviruses. The main research goal is to unravel the highly complex host-pathogen interaction and identify novel prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to combat these viral pathogens. 

As a co-investigator of the World Reference Center for Arboviruses and Emerging Viruses (WRCEVA), I am also involved in the identification and characterization of novel pathogens affecting humans in Tropical regions.

Selected Publications

  1. Aguilar P.V., Greene I., Coffey L., Medina G., Moncayo A., Anishchenko M., Ludwig G., Turell M.J., O’Guinn M.L., Lee J., Tesh R., Watts D.M., Russell K., Hice C., Yanoviak S., Morrison A.C., Klein T.A., Dohm D.J., Guzman H., Travassos da Rosa A.P.A., Guevara C., Kochel T., Olson J., Cabezas C., Weaver S.C. Endemic Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis in Northern Peru: Characterization of virus isolates. Emerging Infectious Diseases May 10 (4) 2004.
  2. Aguilar P.V., Paessler S., Baron S., Poast J., Frolov I., Wang E., Moncayo A., Anishchenko   M., Carrara A.S., Watts D.M., Tesh R., Weaver S.C. Variation in Interferon sensitivity and induction among Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus strains. Journal of Virology, 79: 11300-11310. 2005.
  3. Tumpey T.M., Basler C.B., Aguilar P.V., Zeng H., Solorzano A., Swayne D.E., Cox N.J., Katz J.M., Taubenberger J.K., Palese P., Garcia-Sastre A. Characterization of the reconstructed 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic virus. Science 310:77-80.2005
  4. Smith D.R., Aguilar P.V., Coffey L, Gromowski G., Wang E., Weaver SC. Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus transmission and effect on pathogenesis. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 12 (8) 2006.
  5. Aguilar PV, Robich R, Turell M,  O'guinn M, Klein T, Huaman A, Guevara C, Rios Z, Tesh R,  Watts D,  Olson J,  Weaver  SC. Endemic Eastern equine encephalitis in the Amazon region of Peru. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2007 Feb;76(2):293-298.
  6. Wang E., Paessler S., Aguilar PV, Carrara A.S., Ni H., Greene IP, Travassos da Rosa APA, Tesh R, Weaver SC. Reverse transcription-PCR-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for rapid detection and differentiation of alphavirus infections. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2006 Nov; 44(11):4000-8.
  7. Aguilar PV, Weaver SC, Basler CF. Capsid protein of Eastern equine encephalitis virus inhibits host cell gene expression. Journal of Virology. 2007. 81(8): 3866-3876.
  8. Wang E, Petrakova O, Adams AP, Aguilar PV, Kang W, Paessler S, Volk SM, Frolov I, Weaver SC. Chimeric Sindbis/eastern equine encephalitis vaccine candidates are highly attenuated and immunogenic in mice. Vaccine. 2007 Oct; 25(43): 7573-81.
  9. Aguilar P.V., Adams A.P., Wang E., Kang W., Carrara A.S., Anishchenko M., Frolov I., Weaver S.C. Structural and nonstructural protein genome regions of eastern equine encephalitis virus are determinants of interferon sensitivity and murine virulence. Journal of Virology. 2008. 82(10): 4920-30.
  10. Aguilar P.V., Leung L.W., Wang E., Weaver S.C., Basler C.F. A five aminoacid deletion of the eastern equine encephalitis virus capsid protein attenuates replication in mammalian systems but not in mosquito cells. Journal of Virology. 2008. 82(14):6972-83.
  11. Basler C.F., Aguilar P.V. Progress in identifying virulence determinants of the 1918 H1N1 and the Southeast Asian H5N1 influenza A viruses. Antiviral Research. 2008. 79(3):166-78.
  12. Yu, X., Tsibane T., McGraw P.A., House F.S., Keefer C.J., Hicar M.D., Tumpey T.M., Pappas C., Perrone L.A., Martinez O., Stevens J., Wilson I.A., Aguilar P.V., Altschuler E.L., Basler C.F., Crowe J.E. Neutralizing antibodies derived from the B cells of 1918 influenza pandemic survivors. Nature. 2008. 455(7212): 532-6.
  13. Quiroz E., Aguilar P.V., Cisneros J., Tesh R.B., Weaver S.C. Venezuelan equine encephalitis in   Panama: fatal endemic disease and genetic diversity of etiologic viral strains. Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases. June 2009. 3(6) e472.
  14. Laguna-Torres V.A., Gomez J., Ocana V., Aguilar, P.V. et al. Influenza like illness sentinel surveillance in Peru. Plos One. July 2009. 4(7) e6118.
  15. Aguilar P.V., Camargo W., Vargas J., Guevara C., Roca Y., Felices V., Laguna-Torres V.A., Tesh R., Ksiazek T.G., Kochel T.J. Reemergence of Bolivian Hemorrhagic Fever: 2007-2008. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2009. 15(9): 1526-1528.
  16. Aguilar P.V., Adams A.P., Suarez V., Beingolea L., Vargas J., Manock S., Freire J., Espinoza W.R., Felices V., Diaz A., Liang X., Roca Y., Weaver S.C., Kochel T.J. Genetic characterization of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru: Identification of a new subtype ID lineage. Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2009. 3(9) e514
  17. Vilcarromero S., Aguilar P.V., Halsey E.S., Laguna-Torres V.A., Razuri H., Perez, J., Valderrama Y., Gotuzzo E., Suarez L., Cespedes M., Kochel T.J. Fatal human cases with evidence of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus infection in Peru. Emerging Infectious Diseases.2010. 16(3): 553-556.
  18. Aguilar P.V., Morrison AC, Rocha C., Watts DM, Beingolea L., Suarez V., Vargas J., Cruz C, Guevara C., Montgomery JM, Tesh RB, Kochel TJ. Guaroa virus infection among humans in Bolivia and Peru. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2010. 83(3): 714-721.
  19. Aguilar P.V., Estrada-Franco JG, Navarro-Lopez R, Ferro C, Haddow A, Weaver SC. Endemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in the Americas: Hidden under the dengue umbrella. Future Virology. 2011; 6(6):721-740.
  20. Aguilar P.V., Barrett AD, Saeed MF, Watts DM, Russell, K, Guevara C, Ampuero JS, Suarez L, Cespedes, M, Montgomery JM, Halsey ES, Kochel TJ. Iquitos virus: a novel reassortant Orthobunyavirus associated with human illness in Peru. Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases. In Press. 2011.

NIH Biosketch

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