Jia Zhu, PhD

Dr. Jia Zhu studies the human immune response to reactivation of human herpes simplex virus type 2, the virus responsible for genital herpes. She has developed novel laboratory tools to detect how immune cells behave in genital tissues during the latent and active phases of herpes infection. Those studies show that infection-fighting immune cells, known at CD8+ T cells, persist at the site of healed sores and accumulate near sensory nerve endings, where reactivating viruses are released. Her research found that these T cells, which reside in tissues, are involved in detecting and rapidly containing the virus. Her studies also show that HSV induces skin cells to produce a protein, interleukin 17c, that stimulates the growth and repair of peripheral nerves, which serve as highways for the herpesvirus to spread to other regions.