Alphaherpesviruses are among the most successful pathogens and comprise diverse members that infect a variety of mammals and birds, a.o. herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2 (HSV1&2) in humans and pseudorabies virus (PRV) in pigs.

Typical about these viruses are their very complex and balanced interactions with host cells and the immune response, allowing them to cause lifelong 'dormant' infections (latency) from which they can reactivate upon particular stimuli, which may lead to recurrent spread in and between hosts and recurrent disease symptoms (e.g. cold sores with HSV1).

The aim of the research is to discover novel alphaherpesvirus-cell interactions, mainly using PRV, with a particular focus on interactions that affect the innate antiviral response, including type I/III interferon, natural killer (NK) cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC). This research not only generates new fundamental insights in virus biology and immunology, but may also lead to new antiviral strategies.