March Luncheon Meeting (Goleta) 3/11/20
See our Science of COVID-19 page for more.
Links from this talk:
- Full video (note: the camera focus is not good)
- Detailed summary article by Robert Bernstein
- Webinar: A New Virus on the Block: SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 Pandemic
A Viral Lecture: Understanding the World of Viruses and Outbreaks
The recent outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in China showcases the profound susceptibility of human populations to viruses, and underscores the need for more research in virology. Our speaker will introduce the world of viruses and present the latest developments in current viral outbreaks and epidemics. She will also share some of the cutting-edge research carried out in her UCSB laboratory, which focuses on virus-host interactions.

Our Speaker: Dr. Carolina Arias, Assistant Professor, UCSB Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology - Originally from Colombia, Dr. Arias earned a PhD in Microbiology at New York University (NYU) Sackler Institute for Graduate Biomedical Sciences in 2008, where she studied virus-host interactions in herpesvirus and poxvirus. As a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. Don Ganem at UC San Francisco and then at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Dr. Arias studied genome-wide transcriptional and translational regulation of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. In January 2016, Dr. Arias joined the laboratory of Dr. Joseph DeRisi at UCSF, where she conducted comprehensive drug screens to identify FDA-approved compounds that could be used to curtail Zika virus infection. Dr. Arias joined the UCSB faculty late in 2016.