Mary Poss, DVM, Ph.D.
Position
Professor in Biology and in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at Penn State University
Ph.D
Exptl Pathology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 1990
DVM Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 1984 Veterinary Medicine
MS/MA
MS Biochemistry, 1979, University of New Hampshire, Durham NH
BA/BS
BS Zoology, 1975 Duke University, Durham NC
CV
Webpage
Biology and in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Studies at Penn State
Current Research
We work on the molecular biology, evolution, and ecology of lentiviruses and our research approach spans biological structures from proteins to populations. Our research is focused around the mechanisms of virus-host co-evolution and virus adaptation to new host species. This is an important question because many emergent virus infections are maintained in wildlife populations but cause serious disease when new host species become infected with the virus. We investigate the structural and molecular biological mechanisms involved in viral co-evolution and response to changes in the host environment, such as occurs for a virus in a new host. Additionally, emerging infections are often associated with demographic changes of infected and susceptible host species. Because lentiviruses require intimate contact such as mating for transmission, integrate into the host genome upon infection, and evolve rapidly, we can use retrovirus genes as a proxy genetic marker of host populations to understand recent changes in host demographics. We can also study how recent changes in host demographics shape the population genetics of a resident virus, which may increase the probability of successfully establishing infection in a new host.
Recent Publications
Poss, M, R. Biek and A. Rodrigo. 2001. Virus as Evolutionary Tools to Monitor Population Dynamics. In: Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice. (Aguirre, AA, RS Ostfeld, CA House, GM Tabor and MC Pearl, eds.) Oxford University Press, New York
Altizer, S, C Nunn, P Thrall, JL Gittleman, J Antonovics, A Cunningham, A Dobson, V Ezenwa, KE Jones, AB Pedersen, M Poss, JRC Pulliam. 2003. Social organization and parasite risk in mammals: integrating theory and empirical studies. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst. 34: 517-47
Poss, M, DC Holley, R Biek, H Cox, J Gerdes.2004. Development of a homology model for clade A human immunodeficiency virus type I gp120 to localize temporal substitutions arising in recently infected women. J Gen Virol 85:1479-1484
Poss, M, AG Rodrigo, J Gosink, GH Learn, D Panteleef, HL Martin, Jr, J Bwayo, JK Kreiss, and J Overbaugh. 1998. Evolution of envelope sequences from the genital tract and peripheral blood of women infected with clade A human immunodeficiency virus type 1. J. Virol. 72:8240-8251. (2005), Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 57-74.
