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Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Desarey Morales Vasquez

Ph.D. Student

Research Topic: Understanding the molecular biology, immunology, and pathogenesis of RNA viruses (such as Zika and SARS-CoV-2). Also working towards identifying antivirals that can be used in the treatment of viral infections in humans.

Education

B.S., Biochemistry, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, 2018

Publications

  1. Ávila-Pérez, G., Nogales, A., Park, JG., Morales Vasquez, D., et al. In vivo rescue of recombinant Zika virus from an infectious cDNA clone and its implications in vaccine development. Sci Rep 10, 512 (2020).
  2. Morales Vasquez, D.; Park, J.-G.; Ávila-Pérez, G.; Nogales, A.; de la Torre, J.C.; Almazan, F.; Martinez-Sobrido, L. Identification of Inhibitors of ZIKV Replication. Viruses 2020, 12, 1041.
  3. Chiem, K., Morales Vasquez, D., et al., (2021) Generation and Characterization of Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Expressing Reporter Genes. Journal of Virology, 95(7): e02209-20.
  4. Silvas, J.A., Morales Vasquez, D., et al., (2021) Contribution of SARS-CoV-2 Accessory Proteins to Viral Pathogenicity in K18 Human ACE2 Transgenic Mice. Journal of Virology, 95(17): e00402-21.
  5. Chiem, K., Morales Vasquez, D., et al., (2021) A Bifluorescent-Based Assay for the Identification of Neutralizing Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern In Vitro and In Vivo. Journal of Virology, 95(22): e01126-21.
  6. Ye, C., Chiem, K., Park, J.-G., Silvas, J.A., Morales Vasquez, D., et al., (2021) Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection dynamic in vivo using reporter-expressing viruses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(41): e2111593118.
  7. Morales Vasquez, D., Chiem, K., Silvas, J., Park, J. G., Ye, C., Martínez-Sobrido, L. Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2. J. Vis. Exp. (177), e63127, doi:10.3791/63127 (2021).
  8.  Gorshkov K, Morales Vasquez D, Chiem K, et al. SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein TR-FRET Assay Amenable to High Throughput Screening. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science. Article ASAP. DOI:10.1021/acsptsci.1c00182