Investigators

Summary

The Shair Lab studies the human tumor virus “Epstein-Barr virus,” a ubiquitous herpesvirus with 90-95% seropositivity among adults worldwide. The resulting chronic infection can lead to EBV-associated cancer, which can occur in the immune-competent, and the immune-compromised such as post-transplant patients and HIV+ patients. A major focus is to translate these molecular studies to benefit cancer risk assessment and to elucidate EBV molecular pathogenesis in EBV-associated B-cell lymphomas and epithelial cell cancers. One EBV-associated cancer we study is nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a cancer with high prevalence in specific ethnic populations such as Alaskan Inuits and Southeast Asians. Our projects apply principles in molecular virology, epidemiology, and cell biology. One unique resource at our disposal is a biobank of primary nasopharyngeal cells that we built at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. These samples are used to address questions regarding the cellular response to EBV infection in the nasopharyngeal epithelium using techniques such as 3-D cell culture, single cell RNA-sequencing, and microscopy. Furthermore, by studying the molecular signature of the cellular humoral response to EBV antigens, we have profiled the antibody repertoire in persons known to be at risk of developing NPC. This information can be used to develop a risk assessment assay for NPC. We are a highly collaborative team of diverse scientists that tackle questions in molecular virology using interdisciplinary science.