Felicia D Goodrum Sterling, PhD
Felicia Goodrum graduated with her Ph.D. from Wake Forest University and then trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Thomas Shenk at Princeton University where she was a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fellow and Special Fellow. In 2006, Dr. Goodrum joined the faculty at the University of Arizona and BIO5 Institute in Tucson. Dr. Goodrum’s work throughout her career has focused on complex interaction between DNA viruses and their host. She is currently focused on the mechanisms of human cytomegalovirus latency and persistence. Her laboratory has identified viral determinants of infection important for latency and reactivation as well as the host factors and pathways targeted by these viral factors.
Cancer Focus
Viruses cause at least 10-20% of all cancers. Yet, viruses have also been powerful tools for the discovery of oncogenes, tumor suppressors and basic cellular processes. Herpesviruses are no exception. Our laboratory focusses on the beta-herpesvirus, human cytomegalovirus or CMV. CMV latently infects up to 99% of the population worldwide. CMV can reactivate to cause life-threatening disease in leukemia and lymphoma patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. While CMV is not known to cause cancer, oncomodulatory properties have emerged. Our research focuses on understanding how CMV modulates host trafficking and receptor tyrosine kinase signaling (e.g., EGFR) and DNA damage repair pathways and the impact of this viral regulation on host cell biology and the maintenance of latency or reactivation from latency.