Steven M. Varga, PhD
email: steven.varga@stjude.org
phone: (901) 595-1500
Title(s)
Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Member, Department of Infectious Diseases
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, LLC
Office
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences MS 1500, Room IA1200 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place Memphis, TN 38105-3678
Information
Education
BS, Biology, University of Notre Dame
PhD, Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Post Doctorate, Pulmonary Immunology, Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research, University of Virginia
Research interests:
My laboratory studies the role of virus-specific T lymphocytes in mediating immunity and immunopathology during virus infections. The laboratory uses mouse models to study several respiratory viruses including, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A virus (IAV) and (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A major focus of the lab is examining the host response to RSV infection. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in young children worldwide. An experimental formalin-inactivated (FI) RSV vaccine developed in the United States during the 1960’s led to exacerbated disease in vaccinated infants upon a subsequent natural infection. It is believed that the immune system was largely responsible for the enhanced disease exhibited by the children that received the FI-RSV vaccine. My laboratory is interested in understanding the underlying immunological causes that resulted in the development of RSV vaccine-enhanced disease. We are currently working on a nanoparticle-based RSV vaccine.