Maria Eugenia Ariza
The Ohio State University, USA
Biography
Maria Eugenia Ariza received her PhD degree in Medical Microbiology and Immunology and is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, at The Ohio State University. She has a long-standing passion for understanding how viruses contribute to the pathophysiology of human diseases, specifically the role that the human herpesviruses and human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) have in the development of autoimmune diseases and cancer. Her studies were the first to demonstrate that the dUTPases from the human herpesviruses and HERV-K represent a new class of pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) proteins, which contribute to the immune pathology associated with several immune-mediated diseases, including chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), SLE, psoriasis and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Her studies have identified this family of viral dUTPases as potential disease biomarkers and provide novel molecular targets for the development of alternative therapeutic agents/interventions for CFS, SLE and psoriasis.