The Rivera-Serrano lab in the Biology Department attended the 18th annual Southeastern Regional Virology Conference (SERVC), held April 24鈥26 in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference brought together virology researchers and trainees from across the region to share new findings, build professional connections and discuss advances in the study of viruses and viral diseases.
Assistant Professor of Biology Efra铆n E. Rivera-Serrano gave an oral presentation titled 鈥淚dentification and Characterization of a Reovirus Variant with Improved Oncolytic Potential Against Fibrosarcoma鈥 at the . The presentation highlighted research led by past and current undergraduate researchers in the Rivera-Serrano lab, whose work explores how oncolytic viruses can be used to target rare cancers such as fibrosarcoma. The results presented at the conference were recently accepted for publication in the journal Virus Genes.
This research has been supported by 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Program (URP), including Grants-in-Aid support and Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) funds that supported the work of Charlotte Dagli 鈥25, Ryder Hutchinson 鈥28 and Alice Efremov 鈥26, all of whom are co-authors on the research publication. Travel assistance for the conference was also provided by 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Biology Department Gift Fund.
Lab attendees included Ryder Hutchinson 鈥28, Alice Efremov 鈥26, Alex Roberts 鈥27, Kalialani Choate 鈥28 and Zach Stein 鈥29. In addition to attending conference sessions and supporting the lab鈥檚 presentation, the trip served as the group鈥檚 first laboratory retreat, giving students an opportunity to strengthen connections as a research team through shared meals, informal mentoring and a visit to the Georgia Aquarium before returning to North Carolina.
