Melissa Jones
Assistant Professor
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Teaching Interests
Dr. Jones is currently teaching the Virology lecture course for undergraduate and graduate students. She is also in the process of developing an undergraduate Virology lab course, which will be the first of its kind to be taught at the University of Florida. The goal of Dr. Jones' teaching program is enhance virology education at the university and provide students with a strong, foundational understanding of viruses, how they cause infection and how they can be used to treat and potentially cure disease.
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Education
- B.S (2001) University of Florda, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
- Ph.D (2006) University of Florida, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition; Food Microbiology Specialization
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Description of Research
Dr. Jones is interested in investigating the relationship between human noroviruses and commensal bacteria. Specifically, her lab focuses on how viral interactions impact the bacteria that make-up the intestinal microbiome and how alterations in bacterial gene and protein expression ultimately impact viral infection of host cells. The goal of understanding the molecular nature of this bacterial-viral relationship is to use this knowledge to determine molecular mechanisms of viral infection, develop improved norovirus capture and detection methodologies and investigate novel ways to prevent viral transmission or infection.
- Publications
