Biography
Dr. Kell recieved a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Political Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2005. She earned Magna Cum Laude distinction for an independent honors' thesis. Dr. Kell earned her PhD in Virology at the Univeristy of Washington Department of Global Health in 2013. She completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Michael Gale, Jr at the University of Washington in the Department of Immunology in 2019.
Personal Statement
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. I then made my way to the Pacific Northwest to complete my graduate work with Dr. Gael Kurath, developing novel in vivo superinfection assays to determine phenotypic and genetic correlates of viral fitness for the salmonid rhabdovirus, Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis virus. To fully appreciate the impact of host immune pressure on viral fitness and evolution, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Gale, Jr at the University of Washington as a postdoctoral fellow. I’m now excited to bring my independent research program to the University of New Mexico to study the molecular mechanisms underlying divergent host responses to orthohantavirus infection.
Areas of Specialty
Virology
Immunology
Virus evolution
Innate immuniy
Achievements & Awards
Academic and Professional Honors:
2011 - ASV Travel Award, American Society for Virology, Minneapolis, MN
2012 - ASV Travel Award, American Society for Virology, Madison, WI
2015 - Travel Award - Keystone Symposium, Innate Immunity and Determinants of Microbial
Pathogenesis, Olympic Valley, CA
2016 - Travel Award - Keystone Symposium, Positive-Strand RNA viruses, Austin, TX
2018 - Milstein Travel Award, International Cytokines and Interferon Symposium. Boston, MA
2019 - ASV Travel Award, American Society for Virology, Minneapolis, MN
Fellowships:
Adriano Buzzati-Traverso Foundation
Post-bache laureate Research Fellowship
Kell (PI, mentored by Natascia Ventura, MD, PhD)
Direct costs: €16,500
April 2007 - March 2008
NIH, NIAID
Predoctoral Training Grant, Viral Pathogenesis (T32AI083203)
Kell (PI, mentored by Gael Kurath, PhD)
Direct costs: $71,600
October 2011 - September 2013
American Cancer Society
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Kell (PI, mentored by Michael Gale, Jr)
Direct costs: $163,500
March 2016 - February 2019
Key Publications
Journal Article
Kell, Alison, Hemann, E, A Turnbull, J, B Gale, Jr, M, 2020 RIG-I-like receptor activation drives type I IFN and antiviral signaling to limit Hantaan orthohantavirus replication. PLoS pathogens, vol. 16, Issue 4, e1008483
Journal Article
Kell, Alison, Stoddard, M, Li , H, Marcotrigiano, J, Shaw, G, M Gale, Jr, M, 2015 Pathogen-Associated Molecular Pattern Recognition of Hepatitis C Virus Transmitted/Founder Variants by RIG-I Is Dependent on U-Core Length. Journal of virology, vol. 89, Issue 21, 11056-68
Journal Article
Kell, Alison, Wargo, A, R Kurath, G, 2013 The role of virulence in in vivo superinfection fitness of the vertebrate RNA virus infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus. Journal of virology, vol. 87, Issue 14, 8145-57
Journal Article
Monge, F, A Jagadesan, P, Bondu, V, Donabedian, P, L Ista, L, Chi, E, Y Schanze, K, S Whitten, D, G Kell, Alison, 2020 Highly Effective Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by Conjugated Polymers and Oligomers. ACS applied materials & interfaces, vol. 12, Issue 50, 55688-55695
Gender
Female
Languages
- English
- Italian
Courses Taught
Molecular Virology - BIOMED 616, co-director, Spring 2022
UME Microbiology & Immunology Block Guest Lecturer, RNA viruses, Spring 2022
UME Microbiology & Immunology Block Case-Based Learning facilitator, 2021 - present
Adv T: Immun & Microbio - 29811 - BIOMED 625-002, Director, Spring 2020 - present
Research and Scholarship
AM Kell, EA Hemann, JB Turnbull, M Gale Jr. RIG-I-like receptor activation drives type I IFN and antiviral signaling to limit Hantaan orthohantavirus replication. PLoS Pathog. 2020. 16(4): e1008483. PMID: 32330200.
AM Kell. Innate immunity to orthohantaviruses: could divergent immune interactions explain host-specific disease outcomes? Journal of Molecular Biology. 2021. PMID: 34487792.
AM Kell, M Stoddard, H Li, J Marcotrigiano, GM Shaw, M Gale, Jr. PAMP Recognition of Hepatitis C Virus Transmitted/founder Variants by RIG-I is dependent on U-Core length. Journal of Virology. 2015. PMID: 26311867.
AM Kell, AR Wargo, G Kurath. The role of virulence for in vivo superinfection fitness of a vertebrate RNA virus. Journal of Virology. 2013 Jul;87(14):8145-57.
AM Kell, AR Wargo, G Kurath. Viral fitness does not correlate with three genotype displacement events involving infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus. Virology. 2014 Sep;464-465:146-55.