Dr Vijay Dhanasekaran’s lab research has been to apply computational and experimental methods at the intersection of medicine, epidemiology and population genetics to identify factors that shape the emergence and evolution of rapidly evolving pathogens. 

 

To achieve this goal, the lab conducts virus surveillance in animal, humans and the environment, characterises virus genomes and virus-host interactions using next-generation sequencing methods, and apply computational methods to describe within-host and population scale dynamics by integrating genomics with clinical, epidemiological and immunological data generated from disease surveillance and laboratory experiments.

 

These include investingating factors affecting the diversity and evolution of pathogens in their natural reservoirs such as birds and bats, in livestock production systems, to elucidate origins of human pandemics, to infer factors affecting the transmission of human pathogens, as well as their within-host dynamics. The primary organisms of study of the lab are Influenza and Coronaviruses due to the enormous threat they pose to public health, although it also has ongoing projects in several respiratory, gastroenteric and vector-borne pathogens, such as Rotavirus, Enterovirus, Dengue, Ross River. Most recently Dr Vijay Dhanasekaran’s lab has expanded to study the evolutionary mechanisms of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterial pathogen that readily develop antimicrobial resistance.

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> HKU Scholars Hub: Vijay Dhanasekaran