Hector Aguilar-Carreno, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics
Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, Division of Life Sciences
Languages
English
Education
Fellowship
Virology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 2008
Degrees
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Southern California, CA, 2002
MS, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, 1994
BS, Instituto Technologico de Tepic, Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico, 1990
Contact Information
Scientific Interests
Several viruses are linked to cancers, as they alter cells genetically, epigenetically, and biochemically. Dr. Aguilar-Carreno's lab has a cancer interest in three main paths: 1) They study the biochemistry and molecular biology of how viruses infect cells and modify them. 2) They study antiviral approaches to combat viral infections, with an interest in those that cause cancer (e.g. EBV, KSHV, HSV-1), and thus help prevent viral infections that may lead to cancers. 3) They study novel vaccine approaches that prevent viral infections, with a growing interest utilizing them to develop cancer.
Highlighted Publications
- Shapira T., Monreal I.A., Dion S.P., Buchholz D.W., Imbiakha B., Olmstead A.D., Jager M., Désilets A., Gao G., Martins, M., Vandal T., Thompson, C.A.H., Chin A., Rees W.D., Steiner T., Nabi I.R., Marsault E., Sahler J., Diel D.G., VandeWalle G., August A., Whittaker G.R., Boudreault P.L., Leduc R.*, Aguilar H.C.*, Jean F.*. (2022). A TMPRSS2 inhibitor acts as a pan-SARS-CoV-2 prophylactic and therapeutic. Nature, 2022. 605(7909), 340-348. PMCID: PMC9095466.
- Adeleke, R.A., Sahler, J., Choi, A., Ezzatpour, S., Imbiakha, B., Upadhye, V., Khomandiak, S., Roth, K., Ortega, V., Whittaker, G.R., Jager, M.C. August, A., Buchholz, D.W., Aguilar, H.C.* Replication-incompetent VSV-based vaccine elicits protective responses against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. Science Advances. 2025, In Press.
- Johnston G.P.^, Aydemir, F.^, Byun, H.^, de Wit, E., Oxford, K.L., Kyle, J.E., McDermott, J.E., Kaiser, B.L.D., Casey, C.P., Weitz, K.K., Olson, H.M., Stratton, K.G., Heller, N.C., Upadhye, V., Monreal, I.A., Zamora, J.L.R., Wu, L., Buchholz, D.W., Goodall, D.H. Barrow, J.J., Waters, K.M., Collins, R.N., Feldmann, H., Adkins*, J.N., Aguilar, H.C.* Multi-platform 'omics' analysis of Nipah virus infection reveals viral glycoprotein modulation of mitochondria. Cell Reports, 2025, In Press.
- Ezzatpour, S.#, Thakur, K.#, Buchholz, D.W., Choi A., Imbiakha, B., Carter, J., Onofrei, D. Eaton, B., Postnikova, E., Murphy, M., Ndede, K.E., Tapia, B.C., Bello, D., Babayev M., Holland, G.P., Monreal, I.A., Sahler, J., Ortega, V., Miranda, J.M., Whittaker, G.R. Holbrook, M.R., Jager M.C., Marianski, M., Braunschweig, A.B.*, Aguilar, H.C.* Broad-spectrum sy thetic carbohydrate receptors (SCRs) inhibit infection of several enveloped virus families. Science Advances, 2025, In Press.
- Buchholz, D.W.^, Pacheco, A.^, Monreal, I.A., Xu, S., Contreras, E.M., Imbiakha, B., Sahler, J., Jager, M., Lai, A.L. , Cook, B., Ralalage, E., Liu, Q., Yeo, Y.Y., Ma, A., Zamora, J.L.R., Shil, N.K., Jones-Burrage, S., Pritchard, S.M., Yang, C., Zhao, Y., Mohamed, Z.J., Xu,C., Daniel,S., Jung,M.J., Van de Walle, G.R., August, A., Mukhopadhyay, S., Shimamura, M., Goodman,A., Hardy,M., Bose,S., Nicola, A.V., Freed, J.H., Jones, J.W., Xian, M., and Aguilar, H.C.*Novel class of broad-spectrum antivirals improves influenza virus vaccine development. Nature Communications, 2026, In Press.