Prof. Ceballos's laboratory is focused on virology and biochemistry research as well as the development of microbial-based biotechnologies. In terms of biomedical and neuroscience related research, the lab studies neurotropic viruses (i.e., roseoloviruses) that have been implicated in a host of neurological disorders including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Specifically, we are interested in the genetics and -omics substrates that underlie between-strain differences and within-strain changes in: virulence, viral productivity, propensity for viral integration into nerve cell genomes, attenuation, and impacts of viral infection on neuronal (and glial) physiology. Likewise, we are interested in better understanding how viral infection of neural networks (both in vitro and in vivo) alters neural system signaling and behavior.
Our work is currently funded in large part by a U.S. National Science Foundation Biology Integration Institute grant that supports our Host-Virus Evolutionary Dynamics Institute.
