Event Date
The Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics presents:
Martin L. Privalsky Memorial Lecture
Speaker: Felicia Goodrum, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
Dr. Goodrum presents: "Hijacking the Host: Human Cytomegalovirus and DNA Repair"
A reception will follow the lecture in the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility Foyer area. The event is hosted by Associate Professor and Joe & Essie Smith Endowed Chair, Priya Shah.
About the speaker:
Felicia Goodrum is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She received her B.S. in Biology at Virginia Tech and her PhD at Wake Forest School of Medicine studying adenovirus dependence on the cell cycle for replication.
As a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, she explored the molecular relationships between cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the host that results in life-long, latent infection in hematopoietic cells in the laboratory of Tom Shenk.
She launched her independent laboratory at the University of Arizona in 2006 and moved to Dartmouth in 2025. Her laboratory investigates the molecular relationships between cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the host that results in life-long, latent infection. Her work has identified viral factors and their host targets important for viral latency and reactivation from latency. She has determined the role of host signaling pathways, including the epidermal growth factor receptor and liver X receptor signaling pathways, in shaping viral gene expression and the establishment or reactivation of latency.
Further, she has shown that CMV re-directs endocytic trafficking and turnover to alter signaling with impacts on the pattern of infection - latent vs. replicative. Dr. Goodrum’s lab currently focuses on questions including how (i) host innate signaling, (ii) DNA replication and repair pathways, and (iii) nuclear receptor signaling pathways are commandeered by CMV and impact CMV replication and latency. Her work further seeks to understand how CMV alters myeloid differentiation and how changes in differentiation are sensed by the virus and integrated into the biology of infection.
Dr. Goodrum’s work has been recognized by the Howard Temin Award, Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences, and Presidential Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Dr. Goodrum is a past president of the American Society for Virology and currently the co-editor in chief of the Journal of Virology. Dr. Goodrum is an advocate for basic science and virology.
About the Martin L. Privalsky Fund:
The Martin L. Privalsky Memorial Lecture honors the life and career of Distinguished Professor Martin Privalsky. If you wish to donate to the Martin L. Privalsky Fund, please visit https://give.ucdavis.edu/BMIC/94557
Dr. Privalsky was the epitome of a University of California faculty member: a superb scientist, gifted teacher and mentor, and strong advocate for shared university governance. His contributions to the department, college and campus were profound, made with kindness, humor, and humanity.