Houda Harastani

Program: Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Current advisor: Jacco Boon, PhD

Undergraduate university: American University of Beirut, 2010

Enrollment year: 2020

Research summary
Understand the fundamental biology and mechanistic immunity against Bourbon virus.

My project focuses on addressing Bourbon virus (BRBV), an emerging tick-borne Thogotovirus that has garnered attention in the United States after its discovery a decade ago. My objective is to develop monoclonal antibodies targeting BRBV surface outermost glycoprotein GP, laying the groundwork for the rational design of vaccines and antiviral therapies against emerging viral infections. By unraveling the mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and immune responses, the goal is to enhance understanding of BRBV disease and devise innovative strategies to combat BRBV and other emerging viral infectious diseases.

Graduate publications
Aziati ID, Jnr DM, Antia A, Joshi A, Aviles-Gamboa A, Lee P, Harastani H, Wang D, Adalsteinsson SA, Boon ACM. 2023 Prevalence of Bourbon and Heartland viruses in field collected ticks at an environmental field station in St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 14(1):102080. PMCID: PMC9729426

Jiang H, Joshi A, Gan T, Janowski AB, Fujii C, Bricker TL, Darling TL, Harastani HH, Seehra K, Chen H, Tahan S, Jung A, Febles B, Blatter JA, Handley SA, Parikh BA, Wang D, Boon ACM. 2023 The Highly Conserved Stem-Loop II Motif Is Dispensable for SARS-CoV-2. J Virol, 97(6):e0063523. PMCID: PMC10308922

Shema Mugisha C, Vuong HR, Puray-Chavez M, Bailey AL, Fox JM, Chen RE, Wessel AW, Scott JM, Harastani HH, Boon ACM, Shin H, Kutluay SB. 2020 A Simplified Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay for Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 Growth in Cell Culture. mSphere, 5(5):e00658-20. PMCID: PMC7471006