Gluck Center > Directory > Gluck Faculty > Balasuriya, UBR > Molecular Virology Lab
Molecular Virology LaboratoryPI's Background | Current Research Projects | Research Funding | Lab Members | |
Udeni B.R. Balasuriya, BVSc, MS, PhD
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Principal Investigator’s BackgroundDr. Balasuriya received his B.V.Sc. degree from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 1985, after which he became a Veterinary Research Officer at the Veterinary Research Institute in Sri Lanka. In 1989, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to complete a Masters degree in Comparative Pathology with special emphasis in diagnostic pathology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis (UCD). He received his Ph.D. degree in Comparative Pathology with special emphasis in molecular virology from UCD in 1996, after which he continued his research training as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. In 1997, he was promoted to a Research Molecular Virologist and continued his work on the molecular characterization of equine arteritis virus (EAV). In 2005, he accepted the position of Associate Professor of Virology at the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky. As a faculty member at the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, he has established several national and international collaborations to facilitate exchange of scientists, reagents and information focused on EAV, EHV-1 and other equine viral diseases. His laboratory also provides a dynamic, first-rate research training environment to develop the next generation of research scientists. The major research focus of Dr. Balasuriya’s laboratory is to characterize the molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of equine arteritis virus (EAV) and equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infections of horses and develop improved recombinant vaccines to prevent infection of horses with these viruses, as well as to develop improved tests to diagnose the infections. In addition, some of the recent studies in his laboratory are focused on characterizing the virus-host interactions by combining contemporary molecular biology techniques and host genomic analysis using genome-wide association study (GWAS). |
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Maxwell H.Gluck Equine Research Center
Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0099
Main Office (859) 257-4757
Fax (859) 257-8542