Carolina Arias Gonzales, Ph.D., Group Leader, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, Virology Amidst a Pandemic and Beyond: From the Frontlines of COVID-19 Response to the Frontiers of Antiviral Development

Speaker:

Carolina Arias Gonzales, Ph.D.

Group Leader                                                        

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Title: Virology Amidst a Pandemic and Beyond: From the Frontlines of COVID-19 Response to the Frontiers of Antiviral Development

Abstract:

The global crisis of COVID-19 highlighted our lack of preparedness to respond to outbreaks of emerging viruses. As the pandemic was declared, our team rapidly mobilized to help address the emergency by improving accessibility to COVID-19 diagnostics and facilitating the detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants. We spearheaded local testing initiatives, offered guidance for establishing safety recommendations for the UCSB community, and fostered critical partnerships with healthcare professionals and public health authorities at the county and state levels. Our efforts helped mitigate disease spread, monitor viral evolution, and facilitate a return to normalcy. With the threat of COVID-19 now waning, we are focusing on identifying host-directed, broad-spectrum antivirals that can be rapidly deployed to combat future epidemics. For this purpose, we use a multifaceted, virus-agnostic strategy involving pharmacological, genetic, and functional screenings to identify host factors that are not acutely critical to normal cellular processes, yet are essential for viral replication. In the short span of one year, our initial studies identified four inhibitors of host factors that show antiviral activity against human viral pathogens belonging to the herpesvirus, poxvirus, and flavivirus families. These exciting results illustrate the potential for continued exploration of disabling host components as a promising avenue for repurposing or developing versatile broad-spectrum antivirals.