Publications by authors named "K E Ugen"

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the newly emerged human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to the highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2, it has infected more than 137 million individuals and caused more than 2.9 million deaths globally as of April 13, 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Powassan virus (POWV) is a tick-borne disease in North America that can cause severe neurological issues and has increased over 300% in incidence in the last 16 years, yet there are no available vaccines.
  • - A novel synthetic DNA vaccine called POWV-SEV was developed, targeting key genes of the virus and successfully eliciting strong immune responses in mice with minimal cross-reactivity to other flaviviruses.
  • - The immune responses from POWV-SEV closely resemble those from naturally infected patients, and the vaccine showed effectiveness in protecting mice from POWV-related diseases in lethal challenge tests.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes a potentially life-threatening liver infection that frequently results in life-long chronic infection. HBV is responsible for 887,000 deaths each year, most resulting from chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Presently, there are 250 million chronic HBV carriers worldwide who are at a high risk for developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Significant concerns have arisen over the past 3 y from the increased global spread of the mosquito-borne flavivirus, Zika. Accompanying this spread has been an increase in cases of the devastating birth defect microcephaly as well as of Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults in many affected countries. Currently there is no vaccine or therapy for this infection; however, we sought to develop a combination approach that provides more rapid and durable protection than traditional vaccination alone.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Significant concerns have been raised owing to the rapid global spread of infection and disease caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus (ZIKV). Recent studies suggest that ZIKV can also be transmitted sexually, further increasing the exposure risk for this virus. Associated with this spread is a dramatic increase in cases of microcephaly and additional congenital abnormalities in infants of ZIKV-infected mothers, as well as a rise in the occurrence of Guillain Barre' syndrome in infected adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF