Dr.
Vasilakis is a tenured professor and Vice Chair for Research in the
Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)
as well as a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and
Hygiene. He earned his BA and MA at Hofstra, his PhD at UTMB, and his
Post-doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh.
His
experience spans work in industry (including work on alphaviral
delivery systems for pediatric vaccine development) and prominent work
in academia where his lab focuses on the evolution and pathogenesis of
arthropod-borne viruses as well as virus-mosquito and virus-host
interactions. Dr Vasilakis' past and current work leverages Next
Generation Sequencing (NGS) to identify and annotate viruses and their
impacts on the host and to guide efforts in vaccine development. His
professional and academic background give him a broad understanding of
single-cell sequencing and its relevant scientific applications.