Wong laboratory is to understand how viruses cause disease. This is important and essential for developing effective antiviral therapies and potential vaccines. The Wong lab is currently investigating simian gamma-herpesviruses, which induce disease similar to human gamma-herpesviruses, which can induce severe and chronic disease in humans. Human herpesviruses, are very specific for their natural hosts, a factor that complicates the ability to study the pathogenic mechanisms of the human viruses in an animal model. An alternative approach is to utilize animal models that harbor viruses that are closely related to the human virus. One animal model that has proven to be invaluable in understanding the mechanisms of infectious disease and for vaccine development is the nonhuman primate. Dr. Wong is investigating two gamma-herpesviruses: one that is associated with an immune-mediated disease that closely possesses clinical, immunopathological and histopathological features to multiple sclerosis; and a second gamma-herpesvirus that is associated with lymphoproliferative disorder in the context of acquired immunodeficiency, a disease manifestation that closely parallels disease in AIDS patients. 

By employing molecular, genetic and virological techniques, members of Dr. Wong’s laboratory examine how these nonhuman primate viruses infect and replicate in cell culture and eventually how they cause illnesses in vivo. They have shown that experimental inoculation of immunocompromised monkeys with simian herpesviruses results in disease manifestations that closely resemble those observed in humans infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Utilizing these approaches, they are identifying the viral determinants that contribute to disease and are devising novel recombinant molecules to help prevent viral pathogenesis.