Bio-X SIGF Graduate Student Fellow

Awarded in 2014
Home Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Faculty Advisors: Jeffrey Glenn (Microbiology & Immunology) and Rhiju Das (Physics)

Research Title: Identification and targeting of a novel pangenotypic RNA secondary structural element that mediates influenza A virus packaging and disease

Research Description: Influenza A virus causes major morbidity and mortality worldwide. photo of Rachel Hagey-Braun in the laboratoryCurrent antiviral therapies focus on viral proteins, but frequent gene reassortment events render such therapeutics largely inadequate. Just as many antibiotics target RNA secondary structure, Rachel envisages a new category of antivirals that will similarly target RNA structures within viral genomes. Using novel chemical mapping technologies, her research recently discovered a highly conserved RNA structural element essential for influenza genome packaging. Rachel’s future work aims to further characterize this RNA structure-function relationship and develop a high-throughput, small molecule-RNA structure screen to identify inhibitors for a new class of influenza therapeutics.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Rachel currently serves as a Concierge Research Strategist for clients with complex biomedical, research, and individualized health strategy needs with a special focus on aggressive, orphan diseases. She is also co-founder of a biopharmaceutical company based on her research in Dr. Jeffrey Glenn’s laboratory that utilizes their programmable antiviral technology to develop new agents against novel, universal targets for severe viral infections.