Melissa Maginnis

Biography: Dr. Melissa Maginnis, Associate Professor of Microbiology

COBRE Project: Cellular reprogramming in Persistent versus Lytic JC Viral Infections

Goal: To define how virus-host cell interactions regulate infection and viral pathogenesis of human JCpolyomavirus, which causes the fatal, demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Outcome: The outcomes of this research will close key gaps in our understanding of human JC Polyomavirus biology, and these findings can be applied to provide a broader understanding of GPCR signaling and viral reprogramming during infection.

Project leader qualifications: Dr. Maginnis, an Associate Professor of Microbiology, is an expert in virus-host cell interactions. She has led a research program at UMaine since 2014 that has been funded by the NIH MEINBRE grant and is currently funded by a NIH R15 award. Dr. Maginnis has trained 5 graduate students (completed degrees: 4 PhD and 1 MS) and over 20 undergraduate students. She earned her PhD at Vanderbilt University in the laboratory of Dr. Terry Dermody where she identified and characterized viral receptors for reovirus and human metapneumovirus entry. During her postdoctoral training in Dr. Walter Atwood’s laboratory, Dr. Maginnis identified and characterized the receptors for JC polyomavirus internalization. Her current research program is focused on viral receptors and endocytosis, virus-induced cell signaling pathways, and transcriptional regulation of viral infection.

Career impact of COBRE support: Funding for this COBRE project, combined with mentorship from Drs. Danthi and Parrish, R01-funded experts in the field of virology, and the COBRE leadership team will position Dr. Maginnis to apply for R01-level funding.

Unique contributions: Dr. Maginnis’s expertise in virology, receptor-ligand interactions, endocytosis, and GPCR signaling will be an excellent resource for COBRE team members. She will provide guidance on the virologic components of Dr. King’s project on the viral immune response to influenza immune and for all projects that have a GPCR-signaling component.

Utilization of COBRE and institutional resources: Dr. Maginnis’s research relies on the use of the Microscopy Core for studies of viral internalization (Aim 1) and MDIBL Bioinformatics Core for computing resources for RNA Seq analysis (Aim 2).