Lrp1: New host factor for Rift Valley fever virus infection

A major study of ours was just published in Cell, with a fabulous Leading Edge review written about the study. We had no idea that Cell was soliciting a review, so this was a complete surprise!

You can read my synopsis of our work and how it came about in my twitter thread here.

This was such an interesting journey from meeting Dr. Gaya Amarasinghe at NSV2018 to publication! Lots of individuals contributed over the years at several institutions and I’m super proud of this work. I’m also glad we can talk about it! The Lrp1 story has turned into a major effort in our lab and has cross-cutting implications for all of our projects.

Gaya and Amy at the Negative Strand Virus (NSV) Conference in 2018. This was the genesis of the Lrp1 project!

Ganaie, S.S., M.M. Schwarz, C.M. McMillen, D. Price, A. Feng, J.R. Albe, W. Wang, S. Miersch, A. Ovredahl, A.R. Cole, M.F. Sentmanat, N. Mishra, D.A. Boyles, Z.T. Koenig, M.R. Kujawa, M.A. Demers, R.M. Hoehl, A. Moyle, N. Wagner, S.H. Stubbs, L. Cardarelli, J. Teyra, A.K. McElroy, M.L. Gross, S.P.J. Whelan, J. Doench, X. Cui, T.J. Brett, S.S. Sidhu, H.W. Virgin, T. Egawa, D.W. Leung, G.K. Amarasinghe, and A.L. Hartman. Lrp1 is a host entry factor for Rift Valley Fever Virus. Cell. Published online 23 September 2021.

New Pre-Print is posted

We have a new pre-print on BioRXIV. This is the companion paper to the EEEV paper we published earlier this year. Huge collaborative effort between Klimstra, Reed, and Hartman labs in the Pitt CVR.

“Long-term persistence of viral RNA and inflammation in the CNS of macaques exposed to aerosolized Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus,”

Henry Ma, Joseph R. Albe, Theron Gilliland, Cynthia M. McMillen, Christina L. Gardner, Devin A. Boyles, Emily L. Cottle, Matthew D. Dunn, Jeneveve D. Lundy, Noah Salama, Katherine J. O’Malley, Ivona Pandrea, Tobias Teichert, Stacey Barrick, William B. Klimstra, Amy L. Hartman, Douglas S. Reed

Summer fun

We spent last Friday on the rivers of Pittsburgh! Lunch and a relaxing afternoon in the sun while exploring the city onboard a Rivers of Steel boat. Check out our photo gallery here.

Milestones

We hit a lot of milestones this summer!

Maddy passed her comprehensive exam in July! She is now officially a PhD candidate.

Kaleigh passed her comprehensive exam in June! This is taken at the end of the 1st year.

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As of August 1, Cindy was promoted to Research Assistant Professor (RAP) and moved into her own space!

Join our team!

We have a job posting for a Research III Technician position to assist us with rodent work across multiple projects. No previous BSL-3 or virology experience needed. Rodent handling experience is required.

We are also actively seeking post-doctoral candidates. We have positions available in several project areas. Email me to find out more.

Scialog Fellow

I’m excited to be named as a Scialog Fellow for a 3-year assignment to mitigate zoonotic threats. This is something that I would not have been able to apply for pre-tenure (due to need to stay focused) but post-tenure, I can expand in new directions. I hope to be able to interact more with scientists at the USDA and foster collaborative efforts.

Fellows Selected for New Scialog: Mitigating Zoonotic Threats

We also have some very exciting publication news that I hope to be able to announce soon….

Our lab is growing....by 4 feet!

Lots of exciting news from our lab! We welcome two new students from different departments within the school of public health. They both have extensive experience in diverse background areas. We are excited for the unique perspective that they will bring to our projects.

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Kaleigh Connors is a 1st year PhD student from IDM. She received her undergraduate degree from St. Petersburg College in Florida and her MS Public Health Microbiology and Emerging Infectious Disease in from George Washington University.

twitter: @sciencekaleigh

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Justin Dutta is a 2nd year PhD student from the Human Genetics department within GSPH. Justin is a Pitt alum for undergrad (BS ‘15), and received his MPH from IDM in 2019. So Justin is not new to IDM but he is new to our lab!

twitter: @swimDUTTA

JVI GEM is now published

We have a new review article out in Journal of Virology:

Rift Valley Fever: a Threat to Pregnant Women Hiding in Plain Sight?

This was fun to write! A mix of history and the current state of the field of RVFV infection during pregnancy.

A new era

As of April 1st, 2021, I will officially be an Associate Professor with tenure. Just writing that feels so weird and crazy and unlikely and exciting. I have some thoughts.

In the summer of 2007, when a job opportunity came up at Pitt in the newly formed CVR as Research Manager of the RBL, and I said to my husband “I want to move back to Pittsburgh.” He said ok. And we did it. I am forever thankful for this. Luke was only 9 months old.

I tell people all the time that I didn’t want to run my own lab and be a tenure-track faculty member. Why? I didn’t think I could do it. There weren’t very many examples of successful women faculty members with families (I am reminded of that saying: if you can’t see it, you can’t be it). I saw single, unmarried men come into this job and fail. If they failed, how could I possibly do it? My mind could not calculate it.

So I took an administrative job when I came back to Pitt. I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity that was presented to me. A lot of folks gave me a chance. I appreciate that more than can be expressed. I learned a lot with this new job, and it allowed me the ability to get my feet under me while my kids were young. Lots of stuff happened. Some good, some not good. Caroline was born in 2012. I kept going. I told myself that I’d keep going with this job until someone told me I couldn’t do it any longer, and then I’d figure something else out. So far, I’m still here.

Some combination of perseverance, working hard, and serendipity. Learning curve was and still is STEEP. Thankful for all those who tolerated my mistakes and helped me through it. You know who you are.

In addition to my husband, I have to thank my parents, my in-laws, our wonderful long-time nanny Martha, our kid’s preschool La Escuelita Arcoiris, and Falk Laboratory School - all of these loving family members and support people and institutions supported my family as I worked my way through. All of the conferences and meetings and grant review panels that my parents and in-laws helped with the kids. It truly DOES take a village. I love my village!

I’ve cried in my office on quite a few occasions.

All of my students and staff over the years - from Amy Caroline (my first MS student!) to my first staff members (Jacqui! Laura! Diana!) - thanks for helping me learn how to manage a research team. This is still a work in progress….Each and every one of them taught me something valuable. I remember them all.

I’m quite aware by this time of my strengths and weaknesses. I try to focus on improving the weaknesses, but its tough to teach an old dog new tricks.

Bottom line is that I like this job way more than I ever expected to. I didn’t think I’d love running a research lab. Its intimidating as hell. Writing grants and papers is (dare I say) kind of fun. I only wish I had more time to focus on those aspects and spend less time on paperwork and email.

Running a research program on emerging viruses during a global viral pandemic has been, well, interesting to say the least. 2020 seems like a blur - the March - July time period was the most intense time professionally and personally that I have ever experienced.

The Hartman Lab is in a great place right now. We have several exciting projects that are just getting started. I’m building the lab off of a great base that we’ve established the past few years. I am SO excited to see where these lead to. I have some awesome collaborators that are fun and fulfilling to work with. I want to keep working with good scientists and good human beings. Our new CVR leadership is taking us in a thrilling direction. The future is bright.

I hope to be able to get back in the lab more myself, even if its just to pipet liquids from one container to another. And even if I need to ask where everything is kept these days.

My kids are getting older now (Luke is starting high school in the fall - OMG) and life just feels different. Good different. Deep breath. Tears of joy.

Signs of spring

Its lambing season, so Cindy has been out collecting placenta from local farms. All hands on deck to process all of these fascinating organs!

Cindy and her little lamb

Fresh sheep placenta

Rotation student Justin Dutta helps out with the placenta processing