B.S. Biology w/Biotechnology Emphasis. Brigham Young University-Idaho Ph.D. Cell and Molecular Biology w/Molecular Virology Emphasis. Colorado State University

Viruses are the most abundant microbe on the planet. They affect every aspect of our lives. As obligate cellular parasites, viruses take over and manipulate host cells for optimal viral replication. I am interested in the molecular aspects of viral replication that are applied by the virus to take a host cell hostage and compromise normal cellular physiology. Through a better understanding of how these viruses work, we can apply the viral manipulation processes to modulate and control cellular functions. I am particularly interested in viruses that are transmitted by mosquito vectors. Projects include viral engineering, synthetic biology, genetics, biotechnology, vector biology, recombinant viral reporters and analysis of virus-host cell interactions.

J Jordan Steel, Brian J Geiss, (2015) A Novel System for Visualizing Alphavirus Assembly. Journal of virological methods. N. L. Sweeney, A. M. Hanson, S. Mukherjee, J. Ndjomou, B. J. Geiss, J. J. Steel, K. J. Frankowski, F. J. Schoenen, D. N. Frick (2015) Benzothiazole and pyrrolone flavivirus inhibitors targeting the viral helicase. ACS Infectious Diseases. K. M. Bullard, R. C. Gullberg, E. Soltani, J. J. Steel, B. J. Geiss, S. Keenan (2015) Murine Efficacy and Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of the Flaviviral NS5 Capping Enzyme 2-thioxothiazolidin-4-one Inhibitor BG-223. PLoS ONE. J. J. Steel, R. C. Gullberg, E. Soltani, B. J. Geiss, (2014) Oxidative Stress Influences Positive Strand RNA Virus Genome Synthesis and Capping. Virology. J. J. Steel, A.W.E. Franz, I. Sanchez-Vargas, K. E. Olson, B. J. Geiss, (2013) Subgenomic Reporter RNA System for Detection of Alphavirus Infection in Mosquitoes. PLoS ONE. J. J. Steel, B. R. Henderson, S. B. Lama, K. E. Olson, and B. J. Geiss, (2011) Infectious alphavirus production from a simple plasmid transfection. Virology Journal 8:356.