Georges Verjans studied Medical Biology at the University of Utrecht and received his PhD in Medicine at the University of Amsterdam in 1994, for his studies on the pathogenic role of HLA-B27 in HLA-B27 associated diseases. He joined the Department of Viroscience at the Erasmus MC to start his own line of research on the alpha-herpesviruses herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), varicella zoster virus (VZV) and simian varicella virus (SVV).

His main research interests are the characterization of the virus-host interactions involved in both the development and clinical outcome of herpetic disease, and the inhibition of viral reactivation from latency within sensory ganglia, in patients and experimental animal models.

Recent achievements of his team include the identification of the route of (ocular) viral HSV-1 and SVV infection, the phenotype and breadth of systemic HSV-1-specific T-cell responses in healthy HSV-1 immune individuals, the identification of the differential immune surveillance of HSV and VZV latently infected sensory neurons in human trigeminal ganglia and the role of acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 in latency and disease.

Influenza, Virology, public health, Virus, infectious Diseases, and Infection