2016 and 2015 Undergraduate Summer Research Program Participant and 2017 Student Mentor

Home Department: Chemistry
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Steven Boxer, Chemistry

Photo of USRP student Isabel Goronzy in the lab, working at a microscope while wearing safety glasses.To enter and infect human cells, the influenza virus must bind to molecules on host cell membranes. To identify factors that govern viral binding and determine means to interfere with viral infectivity, Isabel will examine the sterol composition and physical properties of host cell membranes.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2016:

Sterol-Dependent Membrane Dynamics Regulate Influenza Virus Binding

Isabel Goronzy1, Robert Rawle2, Peter Kasson2, Steven Boxer1
[Department of Chemistry1, Stanford University; Department of Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics2, University of Virginia]


Home Department: Chemistry
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Steven Boxer, Chemistry

Isabel Goronzy is investigating the mechanism of influenza infection, specifically, the entrance of the flu virus into a host cell via fusion of the viral and target cell membranes. Blocking this pathway could be developed into a novel anti-viral strategy. To explore how molecules in the viral and host cell membranes interact, she is imaging single virus particles binding to and fusing with a constructed biomembrane.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 26, 2015:

Membrane Lipid Composition Regulating Influenza Binding Visualized on the Single Virion Level

Isabel Goronzy1, Robert Rawle2, Peter Kasson2, Steven Boxer1
[Department of Chemistry1, Stanford University; Department of Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics2, University of Virginia]