Dr. Elisabetta Puglisi's group focuses on the role of RNA conformation in viral infection. Primary systems are HIV and Dengue virus, where they investigate how RNA conformational plasticity mediates key aspects of viral replication.

Viral infections and subsequent host response depend on multiple RNA-protein interaction. The Puglisi lab's research focuses on the structural and functional characterization of RNA-protein complexes involved in viral infection. Current research aims to understand how the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) initiates its replication upon host infection. They use NMR spectroscopy and x-ray crystallography to study the structure of the initiation complex, formed by a host tRNA and HIV genomic RNA, coupled with biochemical and biophysical methods to understand functional properties. The goal of this research is to gain a molecular view of HIV replication initiation, and use this information to develop new therapeutic approaches to combat HIV.