Thomas Friedrich
Assistant Professor
Department:
Pathobiological Sciences (School of Veterinary Medicine)
WNPRC Virology Services Unit
Contact Information:
- (608) 265-3381
Curriculum Vitae:
Thomas Friedrich's Curriculum Vitae
Other web pages:
Aligned research focus:
Infectious disease
Organ system/disease focus:
HIV/AIDS, influenza
Research description:
Why do we get sick? This simple question underpins all research in my laboratory. Our overarching goal is to understand why immune responses sometimes fail to protect us from acute and chronic viral diseases. We study innate and adaptive immune responses to acute and chronic viral infections and the mechanisms viruses have evolved to subvert them. Through our discoveries, we hope to contribute to the global campaigns against pandemic influenza and AIDS.
Our work focuses on immune responses to viral infection in nonhuman primates. Because monkeys' physiology, genetics and immune systems so closely resemble our own, they provide the best possible approximation of human infections.
Selected references:
Weinfurter, J.T., G.E. May, T. Soma, A.J. Hessell, E.J. Leon, C.E. Mac Nair, S.M. Piaskowski, K. Weisgrau, J. Furlott, N.J. Maness, J. Reed, N.A. Wilson, E.G. Rakasz, D.R. Burton, and T.C. Friedrich. 2011. Macaque long-term nonprogressors resist superinfection with multiple CD8+ T cell escape variants of simian immunodeficiency virus. J Virol. 85:530-541.
Friedrich, T.C., S.M. Piaskowski, E.J. Leon, J.R. Furlott, N.J. Maness, K.L. Weisgrau, C.E. Mac Nair, A.M. Weiler, J.T. Loffredo, M.R. Reynolds, K.Y. Williams, Y.C. Klimentidis, N.A. Wilson, D.B. Allison, and E.G. Rakasz. 2010. High viremia is associated with high levels of in vivo major histocompatibility complex class I downregulation in rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac239. J Virol. 84:5443-5447. PMC2863841
O'Connor, S.L., J.J. Lhost, E.A. Becker, A.M. Detmer, R.C. Johnson, C.E. Macnair, R.W. Wiseman, J.A. Karl, J.M. Greene, B.J. Burwitz, B.N. Bimber, S.M. Lank, J.J. Tuscher, E.T. Mee, N.J. Rose, R.C. Desrosiers, A.L. Hughes, T.C. Friedrich, M. Carrington, and D.H. O'Connor. 2010. MHC heterozygote advantage in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected mauritian cynomolgus macaques. Sci Transl Med. 2:22ra18. PMC2865159
