Vaibhav Tiwari MSc, PhD

Dr. Vaibhav Tiwari earned his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Banaras Hindu University in 2001, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in the field of Virology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Illinois at Chicago until 2008. He then became a faculty member at the Western University of Health Sciences (CA) followed by Midwestern University where he teaches virology and the infectious disease to multiple programs. Dr. Tiwari's laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism of viral entry into host cells (including SARS-CoV-2) with the goal of developing novel therapeutic interventions. In the case of herpes simplex virus (HSV; which causes multiple clinical manifestations from cold sores, corneal blindness, and sexually transmitted infections to deadly encephalitis), viral entry results from multivalent interactions between the virus envelope glycoproteins (gB, gD, gH-gL) and host entry receptors (nectin, herpesvirus entry mediator protein; HVEM and 3-O sulfated heparan sulfate; 3-OS HS). The more realistic goal in the lab is to develop novel inhibitors which prevent viral entry and the associated damage to the host cell.