Manuela Beltran

TL;DR: This study demonstrates viral genetic turnover within a focal population and the potential importance of adaptive evolution in viral epidemic expansion and the role of viral molecular evolution in emergent disease dynamics.

TL;DR: Molecular evolution in DENV-2 from Puerto Rico (PR) and surrounding countries was examined over a 20 year period of fluctuating disease incidence, and strong evidence was found for positive selection acting on a number of amino acid sites in the envelope gene, which have also been important in defining phylogenetic structure.

TL;DR: A microneutralization test that measures anti-dengue antibodies was developed that provided results that are essentially the same as those from the plaque-reduction neutralization test for serum samples from primary dengue virus infections, but results correlated poorly with results from samples from people with secondary infections.

TL;DR: The use of molecular or NS1 antigen tests to detect DENV and one to detect anti-DENV IgM in a single serum specimen collected during the first 10 days of illness accurately identified ≥90% of dengue primary and secondary cases.

TL;DR: This assay is highly reproducible, allows good throughput, and was validated for drug lead optimization using isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, linezolid, and moxifloxacin.