Yi Zheng Wins First Place Award at the 2016 Graduate and Post-Doctoral Research Symposium

Yi Zheng, a PhD student in Dr. Haidong Gu's lab, won a first prize for his poster presentation at the Graduate and Post-Doctoral Research Symposium, held in the McGregor Conference Center on March 23, 2016. Yi's study focuses on how herpes simplex virus (HSV) uses a viral protein called ICP0 to penetrate a host's anti-viral defenses. He has identified sequences of ICP0 that are important for ICP0 to find and destroy host defensive proteins in a regulated manner. Without overcoming these frontline defenses, HSV cannot establish an effective infection. This research can lead to a better understanding of the process HSV infection, thereby identifying directions for the developments of novel therapeutic strategies.