Kenneth Olson

Dr. Olson is emeritus professor of Virology and an internationally recognized leader in mosquito transgenics. As a member of the Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (CVID), the major research goals of the Olson laboratory included identifying molecular strategies for interfering with the replication of human pathogens in mosquitoes. By using recombinant mosquito-borne Sindbis viruses to transduce mosquitoes with pathogen-derived RNAs and proteins, the Olson lab has been able to stop transmission of the pathogen in transgenic mosquitoes. Other important goals were to identify components of the RNAi pathway in mosquitoes and to characterize important arthropod-borne virus-mosquito interactions. Dr. Olson also conducted research associated with alphavirus-induced pathogenesis in mouse models and alphavirus-based gene expression in mosquitoes and mice.