CURRENT MEMBERS

Karen Preiter, PhD

Lab Supervisor/Manager since June 2023

Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from Washington University in St. Louis.

preiterke@wustl.edu

Emna Achouri

Senior Bioinformaticist, joined September 2020

Master’s degree in Genomics, majoring in Computational Biology, Université d’Evry (France)

emna@wustl.edu

Publications:

1. Felt SA, Sun Y, Jozwik A, Para A, Habibi MS, Nickle D, Anderson L, Achouri E, Feemster K, Cardenas AM, Turi KN, Chang M, Hartert TV, Sengupta S, Chiu C, and López CB (2021). Detection of Respiratory syncytial virus defective genomes in nasal secretions is associated with distinct clinical outcomes. Nat. Microbiol., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00882-3.2. Felt SA, Achouri E, Faber SR and López CB (2022). Accumulation of copy-back viral genomes during respiratory syncytial virus infection is preceded by diversification of the copy-back genome population followed by selection. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.25.493350v13. Achouri E, Felt SA, Hackbart MS, Rivera-Espinal NS and López CB. (2023) VODKA2: A fast and accurate method to detect non-standard viral genomes from large RNA-seq datasets https://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.05.17.541157v1. RNA. Oct 27:rna.079747.123. doi: 10.1261/rna.079747.123. 4. Pye SE, Achouri E, Yang Y, Musa A and López CB (2025) Validation of diverse and previously untraceable Sendai virus copyback viral genomes by Direct RNA Sequencing. [preprint: bioRxiv 2025.04.04.647164v2] Journal of Virology, Aug 19;99(8):e0089425. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00894-25. PMID: 40742273.5. Yang Y, Achouri E, Tambo M and López CB (2026) Detailed single-cell mapping of the transcriptional response to a virus infection driven by copy-back viral genomes. [preprint: bioRxiv 2026.01.06.697933v1] PloS Pathogens doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1014184. PMID: 42044193 .6.Rivera-Espinal NS, Achouri E, Hackbart M, Gonzalez-Aponte MF, Yang Y, Herzog ED, and López CB (2026) Circadian Clock Gene Modulation and Selective Reprogramming in Response to Virus Infection. [preprint: bioRxiv 2026.08.04.742878v1].

Go to Blog

Italo Araujo Castro, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher (2020-2025) / Staff Scientist since October 2025

Ph.D. Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Sao Pablo, Brazil.

italo@wustl.edu

Publications:

1.Hiller BE, Yin Y, Perng Y, Castro I, Fox LE, Locke MC, Monte KJ, López CB, Ornitz D, Lenschow DJ (2022) Fibroblast growth factor-9 expression in airway epithelial cells amplifies the type I interferon response and alters influenza A virus pathogenesis. PLoS Pathogens, 18(6): e1010228. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. ppat.1010228. 2. Castro I, Yang Y, Gnazzo V, Kim DH, Van Dyken SJ, López CB (2023) Murine Parainfluenza Virus Persists in Lung Innate Immune Cells Sustaining Chronic Lung Pathology. [preprint: bioRxiv 2023.11.07.566103] Nat. Microbiol., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01805-8.3.Gnazzo V, Saleh H, Castro I, Boon AJ, Brien J and López CB (2024) DDO-adjuvanted influenza A virus nucleoprotein mRNA vaccine induces robust humoral and cellular type 1 immune responses and protects mice from challenge [preprint: bioRxiv 2024.10.27.620508v1]. mBio, 10.1128/mbio.03589-24. PMID: 39692514. 4. Castro IA*, Terada Y*, Yokoyama Y*, Bery AI, Li W, Amrute JM, Liu CR, Bai JZ, Gnazzo V, Turnquist HR, Lavine KJ, Krupnick AS, Gelman AE, Ritter JH, Blatter JA, Wang D, López CB#, Kreisel D# (2025). Tolerogenic Lung Immune Microenvironment Suppresses Pathogenic Tissue Remodeling Following Respiratory Virus Infection in Mice. American Journal of Transplantation, 25 (2025) 2515–2528* co-first authors, #co-corresponding authors .5. Vidal D, Castro IA and López CB (2026) Review. Persistence of acute RNA viruses: Implications for post-acute sequelae and chronic inflammatory syndromes. Nature Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-026-02577-5.

Sydney Faber

Senior ResearchTechnician, joined the lab in June 2020

Faber@wustl.edu

Publications:

1. Felt S, Achouri E, Faber SR and López CB (2022). Accumulation of copy-back viral genomes during respiratory syncytial virus infection is preceded by diversification of the copy-back genome population followed by selection. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.25.493350v12. Musa AO*, Faber SR*, Forrest K, Smith KP, Sengupta S and López CB (2024) Identification of distinct genotypes in circulating RSV A strains based on variants on the virus replication-associated genes. [preprint: bioRxiv 2024.04.22.5590570v2]. Journal of Virology, doi: 10.1128/jvi.00990-24. *authors contributed equally

Nicole Rivera-Espinal

Graduate Student, joined the lab in May 2021

NSF-GRFP Fellow (2021)

DBBS, Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program

n.rivera-espinal@wustl.edu

Publications:

1.Achouri E, Felt SA, Hackbart MS, Rivera-Espinal NS and López CB. (2023) VODKA2: A fast and accurate method to detect non-standard viral genomes from large RNA-seq datasets https://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.05.17.541157v1. RNA. Oct 27:rna.079747.123. doi: 10.1261/rna.079747.123. 2.Rivera-Espinal NS, Achouri E, Hackbart M, Gonzalez-Aponte MF, Yang Y, Herzog ED, and López CB (2026) Circadian Clock Gene Modulation and Selective Reprogramming in Response to Virus Infection. [preprint: bioRxiv 2026.08.04.742878v1].

Daniela Vidal

Graduate Student, joined the lab in May 2022

DBBS, Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program

d.vidal@wustl.edu

Publications:

1. Vidal D, Castro IA and López CB (2026) Review. Persistence of acute RNA viruses: Implications for post-acute sequelae and chronic inflammatory syndromes. Nature Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-026-02577-5.

Rosie Reilly

MD/PhD Student, Joined the lab in February 2023

DBBS, Immunology Program

r.reilly@wustl.edu

Xiao Li, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher since 2023

PhD in Preventive Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

x.li1@wustl.edu

Publications:

1. Li X, Yang Y, López CB (2024) Indiscriminate activities of different Henipavirus polymerase complex proteins allow for efficient minigenome replication in hybrid systems. [preprint: bioRxiv 2024.03.18.585482] Journal of Virology, Jun 13;98(6):e0050324. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00503-24.

Heng-Wei Lee, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher since 2023

Ph.D. from the School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University

heng-wei@wustl.edu

Publications

1. Yang Y, Wang Y, Campbell D, Lee HW, Wang, L, Baldridge M and López CB (2024) SLC35A2 modulates paramyxovirus fusion events during infection. [preprint: bioRxiv 2024.08.27.609835]. PLoS Pathogens Jan 10;21(1):e1012531. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012531. PMID: 39792924.