Jason Whitmire, PhD

EMAIL: jwhitmir@email.unc.edu

PERSONAL WEBSITE: https://www.med.unc.edu/genetics/directory/jason-whitmire-phd/

PUBLICATIONS: Publications Link

My laboratory uses mouse models to study how inflammatory pathways, gene expression, and host genetics influence T cell immunity and antibody responses to virus infection. Our main model systems involve either infection of mice with hepatitis A virus (HAV), or systemic infection of mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). We routinely quantify endogenous virus-specific T cell responses using tetramers or functional assays, and perform adoptive transfers of virus-specific T cells, tracking their differentiation in infected recipient mice. We routinely quantify B cell subsets and virus-specific antibody responses following infection. Using the LCMV model, we are investigating how host genetics affects viral pathogenesis, how histone methylation impacts T cell memory and T cell exhaustion, and are investigating how obesity worsens outcomes to systemic virus infection. Using the HAV model, we work with Dr. Stan Lemon to characterize how infection is established and the role of innate and adaptive immune responses in protection against hepatitis.