Lessons learnt from coronavirus – host interactions in wildlife reservoirs and spill over hosts
December 19, 2022
Dr. Arinjay Banerjee
Bats perform important ecological roles in our ecosystem. However, bats are also reservoirs of emerging viruses that have spilled over into humans and agricultural animals to cause severe disease. These viruses include Hendra and Nipah paramyxoviruses, Ebola and Marburg filoviruses, and coronaviruses that are closely related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2. Intriguingly, bats that are naturally or experimentally infected with these viruses do not show clinical signs of disease. Highly pathogenic zoonotic coronaviruses have evolved proteins that can effectively block innate and intrinsic responses in human cells. In this talk, we shall explore how coronaviruses interact with innate and intrinsic responses in their wildlife (bat) and spill over (human) hosts. We will discuss lessons learnt from our studies on bat antiviral responses and translational outcomes that will enable us to design better countermeasures for coronavirus infections in humans.
Bio
Dr. Arinjay Banerjee (PhD) is the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Zoonotic Viruses and Comparative Immunology at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan, and adjunct faculty member at the Universities of Saskatchewan, Waterloo, British Columbia, and Toronto. . Research within Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory focuses on three main themes that are inspired by the One Health ideology, (1) virus-host interactions in wildlife reservoir species, such as bats, (2) virus-host interactions in spillover species, such as humans, and (3) viral vaccine development. Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory is a member of Canada’s Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network (CoVaRR-Net), and as part of this network, his laboratory investigates emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. His doctoral thesis on coronavirus-host interactions was awarded Canada’s Governor General’s Gold medal. His postdoctoral research at McMaster University was awarded the Gerard Wright postdoctoral award in Infection Research and the postdoctoral fellow impact award. More recently, Dr. Banerjee was selected as CBC Saskatchewan’s Top 40 under 40.
