Dr. Alexander Boyden received a one-year RFA research grant award from the National MS Society entitled “Impact of gamma herpesvirus infection on required B cell:CD4 T cell interactions in a novel B cell-dependent, antibody-independent EAE model”.

This pilot study will determine how an Epstein Barr Virus-like murine viral infection impacts B cell-dependent versus B cell-independent models of multiple sclerosis in mice, focusing specifically on how the virus influences B cells’ support of autoreactive T cells. Dr. Jessica Tucker (Department of Microbiology and Immunology) is providing a fluorescent murine gamma herpesvirus-68 strain in collaboration. Dr. Boyden hopes to leverage the findings from this work into larger grant submissions aimed at understanding viral impact on pathogenic B cell function in MS.