This support for an international doctoral dissertation enhancement project (DDEP) will enable biophysics graduate student, Gregory McNerney from the University of California-Davis, to travel to Finland for cooperative work with experts on imaging studies of Echovirus (EV1), a human pathogen virus. The purpose is to study EV1 entry with a highly regarded team in Finland, headed by Dr. Varpu Marjomaki at the University of Jyvaskyla, who has studied the molecular mechanisms that regulate endocytic membrane traffic. Furthermore, she and colleagues at her institution are innovative developers of model systems, analysis software, and optical probes. While at his Finnish host?s laboratory, Mr. McNerney?s plans include the testing of analysis tools for optical imaging via the open-source software platform BioImageXD which will be used to obtain new data on colocalization, size measurements and diffusion rates. Thus, the DDEP will provide the U.S. student with desirable, early career access to leading European virology expertise, techniques, and tools. Furthermore, the project is expected to solidify a promising collaboration between Dr. Marjomaki?s research group and that of McNerney?s physicist advisor, Dr. Thomas Huser at UC- Davis, whose research group works on advanced approaches to live cell imaging at high speed and high resolution.
Through participation in the Finnish team?s refinement of BioImageXD functions and the software?s robustness, Mr. McNerney should gain new insights about cellular uptake pathways while using EV1 as a model virus. If successful, results from the joint project and improved image analysis techniques could benefit the broader research community, including other biology students and medical investigators who have interest in EV1-like infections and self-replication.
