Britt Glaunsinger

Britt Glaunsinger is a Professor of Molecular Therapeutics at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. Her research focuses on how viral infection alters the gene expression landscape of mammalian cells, including viral repurposing of cellular gene regulation machinery and cellular responses to viral invasion. She primarily studies these phenomena using gammaherpesviruses such as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, which is a major cause of AIDS-associated cancers. Her work explores virus-host interactions and their impact on gene expression, with current projects examining viral factors that dampen host gene expression and the role of noncoding RNAs in viral activation.

Britt Glaunsinger is a virologist whose research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which viruses manipulate host cellular processes to support their replication and evade immune responses. Her work explores the interactions between viral proteins and host factors, particularly in the context of RNA degradation, host shutoff, and immune evasion. She investigates how viruses like coronaviruses, herpesviruses, and papillomaviruses exploit cellular pathways such as the cGAS-STING DNA sensing pathway and the proteasome to modulate gene expression and promote pathogenesis. Her research provides insights into the molecular virology of viral infections and their impact on host biology.