Maudry Laurent-Rolle, MD, PhD, BS

I have spent the past two decades studying the molecular mechanisms used by pathogenic viruses, particularly flaviviruses, to evade host immune responses. During my training in the Post Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, I helped develop a reporter assay to screen dengue virus-encoded proteins for their ability to inhibit the type I interferon response. As a graduate student, I was awarded an NIH F31 grant for my research on how West Nile virus (WNV), dengue virus (DENV), and yellow fever virus (YFV) block the host innate immune response. I identified how these viruses use the nonstructural protein 5 (NS5) to inhibit interferon signaling, albeit through distinct mechanisms.
After completing my Internal Medicine residency, I joined the Infectious Diseases Fellowship program at Yale University. My research program focuses on understanding how host responses to viruses impact disease enhancement and prevention, as well as the strategies viruses use to evade the immune system. The outcomes of our work may contribute to the development of new drug targets.