Shi-Hua Xiang, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

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Dr. Xiang's research interests have been focused on antivirals. His lab utilizes cutting-edge technologies to develop effective countermeasures for fighting against human or animal viral infectious diseases. The primary viral pathogens they have been working on in the lab include Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), Ebolaviruses (EBOV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), Ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV), and Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). Two major approaches have been developing in the lab which can be summarized below:

1. Structure Based Drug/Vaccine Design against Viral Infectious Diseases
   They evaluate the target proteins in the virus life cycle for which the structural information is available. They use structure-based approaches such as molecular modeling, docking, in silico screening, and structure-based design to design inhibitors for drug development or design immunogens for vaccine development. Because this design is a specific target based it will increase the clinical effect and reduce the side-effect. In particular, they will use the antibody binding information to design peptides and small molecules for targeting.
2. Commensal Bacteria Based Delivery System for Virus Infection Control
   Commensal bacteria naturally reside in human or animal bodies in large numbers and supply certain metals, hormones, and other important nutrients. So it is the rationale that we can employ these bacteria and manipulate them for therapeutic applications against human or animal diseases. They have been developing lactobacillus-based delivery systems to deliver therapeutics or vaccines into the mucosal surfaces for anti-viral diseases such as HIV and Ebola. Since the commensal bacteria can colonize the body it is likely to achieve long-term efficacy.

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