Wendy Maury, PhD
email: wendy-maury@uiowa.edu
phone: 319-335-8021
Title(s)
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Mark Stinski Chair in Virology
University of Iowa
Office
University of Iowa 3-632 Bowen Science Building 51 Newton Road Iowa City, IA 52242
Information
Education
BA, Botany, Duke University
MS, Botany, North Carolina State University
PhD, Biology, University of Virginia
Research interest: A goal of our research is to understand how enveloped viral glycoproteins bind to and mediate entry into permissive cells. An appreciation of the cellular attachment factors, receptors, internalization pathways and fusion events used by a virus to enter cells provides an avenue for the development of antiviral therapies. To this end, my laboratory primarily focuses on the filoviruses, Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus, but also investigates entry mechanisms of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). We have
recently identified a novel cell surface receptor for filoviruses and are currently exploring the role of this family of cellular receptors in filovirus pathogenesis. In addition, studies in the lab have helped to elucidate the endosomal pathways used by filoviruses for entry and identified Ebola virus glycoprotein amino acids that are critical for productive Ebola virus infection. Stemming from this work are investigations into novel vaccine and antiviral therapeutic approaches designed to block filovirus infection.