2026 Brochure
To view the 2026 Annual Meeting Brochure, click here.
Local Host Spotlight
Yuying Liang, PhD
University of Minnesota
Twin Cities
The Liang lab focuses on both basic and translational research on arenaviruses, a family of enveloped RNA viruses with a bi-segmented genome that are carried by local rodents and can cause severe hemorrhagic fevers in humans. Our research areas include studying virus-host interactions and developing a recombinant Pichinde virus (PICV) vector as a platform for vaccines and immunotherapies targeting animal and human diseases.
Wei Zhang, PhD
University of Minnesota
Twin Cities
Dr. Zhang’s research group investigates structural transformations of enveloped viruses, including alphaviruses and retroviruses, during assembly and infection. We use cryo-EM, cryo-ET, and 3D reconstruction methods to elucidate how alphaviruses mediate membrane fusion during entry and the key determinants of retrovirus assembly and maturation. We aim to reveal structure-function relationships by resolving atomic details of critical viral proteins throughout these essential biological processes.
Louis M. Mansky, PhD
University of Minnesota
Twin Cities
The Mansky research group has maintained long-standing interests in the replication, evolution and virus-host cell interactions of the human retroviruses – human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1, HIV-2). Areas of investigation have included the determinants of HIV-1 mutagenesis, lethal mutagenesis as an antiviral strategy, and the comparative analysis of HTLV and HIV particle assembly and host-cell interactions. Dr. Mansky is the founding director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Molecular Virology as well as the founding director of the NIH T32-supported Minnesota Training Program in Virology.