Rodrigo Santos

Rodrigo Santos, Ph.D., is a virologist with extensive experience in studying broad-spectrum antivirals and conducting immunopathogenesis studies of various viruses, as well as investigating the mechanisms of action of antivirals. Dr. Santos earned his Master’s and Doctorate from the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine at Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil. During his Ph.D., he developed an experimental model for Oropouche virus (Orthobunyavirus, Bunyaviridae) infection in neonatal BALB/c mice via subcutaneous inoculation.

For his professional training, Dr. Santos joined the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX. His primary research projects at UTMB focused on identifying the mechanisms by which human monoclonal antibodies isolated from survivors effectively neutralize the Ebola virus. Additionally, Dr. Santos has industry experience working under GLP regulations.

At Campbell University, Dr. Santos will investigate how flaviviruses modulate phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP) during the virus entry process. Santos' lab is guided by the premise that PIP reorganization induced by flavivirus infection modulates the PI3K/Akt pathway during viral entry and early infection, creating an environment that favors virus replication.

virology, Kinases, pathogenesis, PI3K-Akt, virus-cell interactions, virus entry