Vida Ahyong

AEGIS reveals epitope- and clone-resolved convergence of CNS B and T cell autoreactivity in ROHHAD

AEGIS identifies epitope- and clone-specific autoimmunity in ROHHAD by linking immune repertoires to self-epitopes, revealing convergence on ZSCAN1 epitopes in the CNS.

A stabilized MERS-CoV spike ferritin nanoparticle vaccine elicits robust and protective neutralizing antibody responses

This paper develops a stabilized MERS-CoV spike ferritin nanoparticle vaccine that elicits strong neutralizing antibodies in mice and non-human primates, providing protection against MERS-CoV infection.

A Wildlife Health Outbreak Response Table-top Exercise for Pandemic Preparedness Planning

This paper describes a table-top exercise to evaluate multi-agency response to a hypothetical zoonotic disease outbreak and identifies challenges and recommendations for improving cross-agency coordination.

Discovery of a novel bandavirus using metagenomic sequencing in a retrospective analysis of an unresolved 2020 mortality event involving black vultures in the northeastern United States.

The paper identifies a novel bandavirus as the likely cause of a 2020 black vulture mortality event using metagenomic sequencing.

PoMeLo: a systematic computational approach to predicting metabolic loss in pathogen genomes

PoMeLo predicts metabolic loss in pathogen genomes by analyzing gene and pathway degradation across bacterial species.

Evolutionary genomics identifies host-directed therapeutics to treat intracellular bacterial infections

This paper uses evolutionary genomics to identify host metabolic pathways critical for intracellular bacterial survival, validating them through in vitro assays and metabolomics.

Metagenomics for pathogen detection during a wildlife mortality event in songbirds

The paper uses metagenomic sequencing to investigate a wildlife mortality event in songbirds, finding no single pathogen but highlighting the utility of metagenomics in such investigations.

IDseq - An Open Source Cloud-based Pipeline and Analysis Service for Metagenomic Pathogen Detection and Monitoring

IDseq provides a cloud-based metagenomics pipeline for pathogen detection, enabling analysis of mNGS data with tools for taxonomic assignment and novel pathogen identification.

Identification of a polymorphism in the N gene of SARS-CoV-2 that adversely impacts detection by a widely-used RT-PCR assay

The paper identifies a SARS-CoV-2 N gene polymorphism that reduces RT-PCR assay sensitivity and emphasizes the need for multi-target testing.

The Plasmodium falciparum cytoplasmic translation apparatus: a promising therapeutic target not yet exploited by clinically approved antimalarials.

The paper develops and validates a direct assay to measure Plasmodium falciparum translation, showing no clinically approved antimalarials inhibit it.