Vicki Traina-Dorge, PhD

Dr. Traina-Dorge is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Tulane University School of Medicine and a Molecular Virologist in the Division of Microbiology at the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC), Covington, Louisiana. She has a broad background in virology, immunology, and pathogenesis of nonhuman primates. This includes over twenty years’ experience developing nonhuman primate (NHP) models of pathogenic viral infections that include: simian varicella virus (SVV), simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), human/simian T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV/STLV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhesus papillomavirus (RhPV), and alphaviruses: Eastern, Western and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses (EEE, WEE, VEE) to study the molecular mechanisms of viral pathogenesis, carcinogenesis, molecular epidemiology, vaccine efficacy and therapeutics against those agents. 

Simian varicella virus (SVV) infection of nonhuman primates (NHP) showed clinical, virological, pathological, and immunological features identical to human varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection. Early work characterized two NHP SVV infection models, one, showing SVV persistence and the other, SVV latency. Her lab was instrumental in the development of a unique reactivation model of shingles in NHP, as a model of human zoster, seen most frequently in elderly individuals. With this model she has identified key responses, specific cell types and cell signaling molecules involved in virus trafficking following viral reactivation. Persistent inflammation has now been shown to be an important contributor to varicella pathogenesis and her lab is currently working to identify and delineate mechanisms of viral subclinical reactivation and multi-organ involvement as a cause of stroke, arteritis, ocular infections (including macular degeneration) and potentially, Alzheimer's disease, including the role of virus-induced PD-L1 dysregulation.

With a long standing interest in developing translatable viral vaccines, her lab has performed multiple vaccine efficacy preclinical vaccine NHP trials testing:  RSV deletion mutants, recombinant Sendai virus-RSV, trivalent alphavirus (EEE, WEE, VEE) virus like particle (VLP) vaccines, novel recombinant rSVV-SIV viral vectored vaccines to develop a vaccine against HIV, and has identified immune responses to those immunizations and important protective correlates.

Currently, she has four pending NIH grants to study: 1) varicella chimeric virus pathogenicity, 2) RSV pathogenesis in an NHP model, 3) identification of neurological biomarkers in the established TNPRC SARS-CoV-2 rhesus macaque (RM) infection/disease model, and 4) development and testing of rSVV-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines also in the SARS-CoV-2 RM model.