Marshall E. Bloom, M.D.
Chief, Tick-borne Flavivirus Pathogenesis Section
Associate Director for Science Management
Rocky Mountain Laboratories
Senior Investigator
Tick-borne Flavivirus Pathogenesis Section
Dr. Bloom received his M.D. in 1971 from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and then joined the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) of NIAID in 1972 as a research associate. From 1975 to 1977, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the NIAID Laboratory of the Biology of Viruses on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. He returned to RML as a tenured investigator in 1977 and was a charter member of the Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases. He is a world expert in the molecular biology and pathogenesis of parvoviruses, and is considered an authority in biocontainment. In 2004, Dr. Bloom’s research group changed its focus to the pathogenesis of tick-borne flaviviruses. In 2002, Dr. Bloom was appointed Associate Director for RML in NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research, and among his duties have been program supervision of the permitting, construction and staffing of the NIAID's first Biosafety Level-4 facility. In 2008, Dr. Bloom was named Associate Director for Science Management for RML in NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research. He has also served as Acting Chief of the NIAID's new Laboratory of Virology and Acting Chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis.
 |
| Human monocyte-derived dendritic cells infected with Langat virus (red) and treated with type I interferon. The cells were then stained for tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT1 (green) that is present in the nucleus of responsive cells. Langat virus inhibits the ability of infected cells to respond. The viral protein responsible is the nonstructural protein, NS5, identified as a novel interferon antagonist of the vector-borne flaviviruses. |
Description of Research Program
The laboratory investigates the pathogenesis of viruses belonging to the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus complex of flaviviruses. Endemic throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, these viruses can cause severe encephalitis, meningitis, or hemorrhagic fevers with relatively high mortality rates. Our research utilizes two animal models of infection, the mouse and the tick, to examine viral determinants of transmission and virulence. Understanding these aspects of pathogenesis will provide targets for the design of therapeutics and vaccines.
Major Areas of Research
- Interactions between TBE viruses and innate immune responses, including interferon and apoptosis signaling pathways
- Viral determinants of neuro-virulence and neuro-invasiveness
- Viral determinants of effective vertical (through the tick life stages) and horizontal (from tick to mammalian host) transmission
Research Group Members
Sonja M. Best, Ph.D., Staff Scientist; Shelly J. Robertson, Ph.D., Research Scientist; Dana N. Mitzel, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow; R. Travis Taylor, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow; James B. Wolfinbarger (Wolf), Technician; Elena Boer, Post-baccalaureate IRTA.
Selected Recent Publications
(View list in PubMed)
Mitzel DN, Wolfinbarger JB, Long RD, Masnick M, Best SM, Bloom ME. Tick-borne flavivirus infection in Ixodes scapularis larvae: development of a novel method for synchronous viral infection of ticks. Virology. 2007 Sep 1;365(2):410-18.
Park GS, Morris KL, Hallett RG, Bloom ME, Best SM. Identification of residues critical for the interferon antagonist function of Langat virus NS5 reveals a role for the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain. J Virol. 2007 Jul;81(13):6936-46.
Best SM. Viral subversion of apoptotic enzymes: escape from death row. Annu Rev Microbiol. 2008;62:171-92. Review.
Mitzel, D.N., Best, S.M., Wolfinbarger, J.B., Masnick, M., Porcella, S. and Bloom, M.E. (2008). Genetic changes in a tick-borne flavivirus associated with host adaptation and pathogenicity. Virology 381(2): 268-276.
Robertson, S.J., Mitzel, D.N., Taylor, R.T., Best, S.M. and Bloom, M.E. (2008). Tick-borne flaviviruses: dissecting host immune responses and virus countermeasures. Immunologic Research, In Press.
Le Duc, J.W., Anderson, K., Bloom, M.E., Estep, J.E., Feldmann, H., Geisbert, J.B., Geisbert, T.W., Hensley, L., Holbrook, M., Jahrling, P.B., Ksiazek, T.G., Korch, G., Patterson, J., Skvorak, J.P., and Weingartl, H. (2008). Framework for Leadership and Training of Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory Workers. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14(11):1685-1688.
back to top