Staff by Division

Staff Biography

John Vanchiere, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Department of Pediatrics

Contact

Phone: (318) 675-6076
Fax: (318) 675-6059
jvanch@lsuhsc.edu

Team Membership

Basic Sciences: Tumor Virology

Department of Pediatrics, Section of Infectious Diseases

Education/ Research / Publications

Education / Professional Experience

Fellowship, Infectious Diseases, 2002, Baylor College of Medicine

Residency, General Pediatrics, 1996-1999, Baylor College of Medicine

Ph.D., Neurosciences, 1996, Emory University

M.D., 1996, Emory University

B.S., Physics/Chemistry, 1988, Tulane University

Research Interest

Natural history and pathogenesis of human polyomaviruses.

My laboratory seeks t0 understand the host and viral factors that regulate BK polyomavirus persistence, reactivation, and disease in immunocompetent and immune-compromised patients.

After asymptomatic infection in early childhood, BK virus (BKV) persists in the kidney, causing disease only in patients with severe immune compromise (e.g., kidney or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation). However, not all immune compromised patients develop BKV-related disease, suggesting that host immunogenetic factors contribute to the pathogenesis of BKV disease. My long-term goal is to understand the host-pathogen interactions that maintain persistence of human polyomaviruses, particularly BKV and Simian Virus 40 (SV40) in healthy patients. To attain this goal, my research is focused in five areas: 1) study of the natural history of BKV and SV40 in healthy adults and children; 2) investigation of the pathogenesis of BKV-related disease in transplant recipients and other immune-compromised patients; 3) development of a non-human primate model of BKV infection that develops BKV-related urinary tract disease and/or cancer when immune suppressed; 4) production of recombinant BK viruses with alterations in the non-coding control region that may alter the kinetics of viral replication and transcription; and 5) elucidation of the host immunogenetic factors that are associated with reactivation of persistent viruses in healthy and immune compromised subjects.

Project #1: Natural history of BK virus in pregnancy and childhood.

This is a prospective longitudinal study of pregnant women and their infants to elucidate the clinical and immune factors associated with BKV reactivation and transmission in early childhood.

Project#2: Polyomavirus reactivation in pediatric renal disease.

This is a prospective longitudinal study of polyomavirus reactivation in pediatric patients with nephritic syndrome or who have undergone renal transplantation.

Project #3: Polyomavirus excretion in the stool of healthy infants.

This is a retrospective study of archival stool specimens collected weekly from 100 Mexican infants as part of a study of infectious causes of diarrhea in infancy. We are using qualitative PCR to screen for polyomavirus shedding in order to determine the prevalence and duration of BKV fecal shedding among 12-month old infants.

Project #4: Epidemiology of BKV and Adenovirus reactivation and disease after HSCT.

In collaboration with the Children’s Oncology Group and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium, I am developing a protocol for virus surveillance and a clinical trial of agents with anti-polyomavirus activity to determine the optimal setting for utilization of antiviral agents for prevention and treatment of BKV and adenovirus diseases.