Dr. Gershwin is a veterinary immunologist. Her group has been studying the immune response to bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) in cattle, with an emphasis on pathogenesis, the role of IgE responses, and vaccinology. This model has been used to study disease exacerbation resulting from vaccination of human children for RSV with a formalin-inactivated vaccine and is currently being used to evaluate efficacy of DNA vaccines. In one project the pathogenic synergy of BRSV and Histophilus somni (formerly Haemophilus) is being studied at the whole animal, cellular, and molecular levels. Her group also studies murine, feline, and primate models of asthma, with focus on the modulation of the asthmatic phenotype by environmental tobacco smoke, ozone, and respiratory viruses. In addition, the laboratory has an ongoing study on equine IgE responses, currently focused on IgE responses to vaccines. Please contact Dr. Gershwin at ljgershwin@ucdavis.edu for further information.