Virology & Mycology
Open Access

Ralph Tripp A

Biography

Ph.D., Oregon State University, 1989
B.S., Biology, Franklin Pierce College, N.H., 1984

Ralph Tripp arrived at the Emory University School of Medicine in 1990 for a postdoctoral fellowship in a lab that focused on adenoviruses, which cause respiratory infections and are adept at bypassing the immune system. He left Emory for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in 1993, and then joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in 1997. Tripp was a section chief in the Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch of the CDC, where he studied immunity and disease pathogenesis associated with respiratory virus infections. He has studied influenza and respiratory virology for over 14 years, and disease intervention strategies since 1989.

Research Interest

The research interest of our group is to develop translational disease intervention strategies for important human viruses and emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin. Our BSL2, BSL3 and BSL3Ag+ laboratories develop platform enabling technologies in pathogen biosensing using nanotechnology-based approaches, antiviral drugs using small molecule and RNAi-based drugs, and animal and human vaccines using state-of-the-art technologies with our in-house GMP vaccine facility. In parallel, we investigate the mechanisms of immunity and disease pathogenesis associated with infection to better understand the conceptual and functional differences between innate and adaptive immune responses that provide the foundation necessary to facilitate vaccine and antiviral therapeutic protocols. The laboratories leverage the talents of academic, government and industry partners to promote "bench-to-bedside" vaccines and therapeutics.