Adam Geballe, M.D.

Professor of Medicine
Research Affiliate, Center on Human Development and Disability
ageballe@fhcrc.org
206-667-5122
University of Washington
Box 358080
Seattle, WA 98195-8080

Dr. Geballe's research focuses on translational control of gene expression, both viral and cellular. His laboratory is investigating both gene-specific and global translational controls that influence the timing and the extent of expression of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins. Congenital infections by HCMV are a leading infectious cause of intellectual and other developmental disabilities, hearing loss, and other disabilities and even death in newborns. Geballe and colleagues are investigating the mechanisms by which HCMV genes block the cellular antiviral defenses and thereby enable the virus to replicate and cause disease in the infected patient.

Additional research efforts focus on identifying double-stranded RNA binding proteins in other viruses, including murine CMV, human herpesvirus 6, and coronaviruses, and on determining their roles and interactions with recently discovered diverse cellular pathways that respond to double-stranded RNA. These studies should reveal new insights into the host-virus interactions that are likely to be key determinants of the pathogenesis of viral infections and may have implications for the design of viral vaccines and vectors.

Adam Geballe's UW Microbiology web page

CHDD Outlook article on viral defenses (Summer 2006, page 3)

University of Washington • Center on Human Development and Disability Box 357920 • Seattle WA 98195-7920 USA • 206-543-7701 •chdd@uw.edu