MGM alums Rafael Campos and Nandan Gokhale recently received NIAID K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Awards. The K99/R00 award supports postdoctoral fellows in their path to independence. The K99 phase funds researchers for up to two years as postdoctoral fellows. After securing a tenure-track assistant professor position, the R00 would support awardees' laboratories for up to three more years.
Dr. Gokhale trained in Dr. Stacy Horner’s lab and is currently a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow at the University of Washington. The title of his project is "Regulation of the MAVS signalosome by RNA and RNA-binding proteins". This funding will allow him to continue studying the role of cellular RNA and RNA-binding proteins in regulating an immune signaling platform centered on the adaptor protein MAVS, which is crucial to establishing antiviral immunity. Such an RNA-centric regulatory mechanism may be a generalizable principle for how cytoplasmic immune signaling complexes are organized. The Pathway to Independence Award will further Dr. Gokhale's training as he seeks to transition to an independent faculty position. His future research program will focus on 1) continuing to understand how RNA controls the MAVS signalosome, 2) how intrinsically disordered regions mediate protein-RNA interactions, and 3) the role of RNA molecules in other immune signaling complexes.
Dr. Campos trained in the laboratory of Drs. Mariano Garcia-Blanco and Shelton Bradrick and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at University of Texas Medical Branch. The project entitled "Assessing the roles of viral mutations and host factors in the transmission of Mayaro virus and other alphaviruses by urban mosquitoes" aims to identify viral and host factors important for transmission of emerging alphaviruses by urban mosquitos of the Aedes genus. During the K99 phase, Dr. Campos will focus on identifying and testing viral factors involved in transmission of Mayaro virus, an emerging zoonotic virus, by mosquitoes. During the R00 stage, he will study how highly prevalent RNA methylation marks on viral and host RNAs could affect infection and immunity in mosquito hosts in the context of infection with alphaviruses (chikungunya and Mayaro viruses). Through this project, Dr. Campos hopes to gain a better understanding of how these viruses are transmitted by mosquitos and to identify potential targets for interventions. These studies will be done with the support of his advisors Profs. Shannan Rossi and Scott Weaver, mentor Prof. Nikos Vasilakis, and in collaboration with Profs. Stacy Horner, George Dimopoulos (Johns Hopkins University), and Kathrin Hanley (New Mexico State University), among other collaborations.