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2019 - Rona S. Scott, PhD, has been appointed the Mingyu Ding Memorial Endowed Professorship in Microbiology. This is the only Basic Science Endowed Professorship. Dr. Scott has direct ties to Dr. Mingyu Ding, who she trained as an incoming graduate student and mentored him while still working in Dr. Sixbey’s laboratory. Dr. Scott is a leader in the study of epigenetic imprints by transient infection with the DNA tumor virus EBV. She is also investigating the synergy of EBV with another tumor virus, HPV16, in the development of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. She is nationally and internationally well-recognized and, as a consequence, is well funded by extramural grants. She is the Director of the Genomics Core, which is housed in the Research Core Facility. She has been instrumental in establishing this core facility and the associated data processing and analysis. This core has been established as part of the NIH-funded Center for Molecular and Tumor Virology, and has received significant funding for the set up and operation. This resource has become an essential component of LSU Health Shreveport and is being used by researchers across the institution and externally. Inside LSU Health Shreveport Magazine

Major Research Interests:

Mechanisms for Epstein-Barr virus-mediated tumor progression Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a prevalent herpesvirus that infects greater than 95% of the world’s adult population, usually without consequence. However, in some cases, the virus is associated with the development of lymphoid and epithelial malignancies. The long-term goal of our laboratory is to delineate mechanisms by which EBV mediates tumor progression. Two major areas are currently being investigated. The first research area involves understanding how epigenetic alterations on the virus and host genome that contribute to tumorigenesis. The second area involves understanding interactions between Epstein-Barr virus and human papillomavirus in oral cancer.

Selected Publications

1. Guidry JT, Myers JE, Bienkowska-Haba M, Songock WK, Ma X, Shi M, Nathan CO, Bodily JM, Sapp MJ, Scott RS. 2019. Inhibition of Epstein-Barr virus replication in human papillomavirusimmortalized keratinocytes. J Virol 93 (2): e01216-18. PMCID: PMC5833277
2. Guidry JT, Birdwell CE, Scott RS. 2018. Epstein-Barr virus in the pathogenesis of oral cancers. Oral Dis 24(4):497-508. PMCID: PMC5554094
3. Birdwell CE, Prasai K, Dykes S, Jia Y, Munroe TGC, Bienkowska-Haba M, Scott RS. 2018. Epstein-Barr virus stably confers an invasive phenotype to epithelial cells through reprogramming of the WNT pathway. Oncotarget 9(12): 10417–10435. PMCID: PMC5828208
4. Scott RS. 2017. Epigenetic changes upon EBV infection. Curr Opion Virol 26:74-80. PMCID: PMC5742862
5. Guidry JT, Scott RS. 2017. The interaction between human papillomavirus and other viruses. Virus Res 2017 231:139-147. PMCID: PMC5325789
6. Jiang R, Ekshyyan O, Moore-Medlin T, Rong X, Nathan S, Gu X, Abreo F, Rosenthal EL, Shi M, Guidry JT, Scott RS, Hutt-Fletcher LM, Nathan CO. 2015. Association between HPV/EBV co-infection and oral carcinogenesis. J Oral Pathol Med 44(1):28-36. PMCID: PMC4286485
7. Birdwell CE, Queen KJ, Rollyson P, Kilgore P, Trutschl M, Cvek U, Scott RS. 2014. Genomewide DNA methylation as an epigenetic consequence of Epstein-Barr virus infection of immortalized keratinocytes. J Virol 88(19):11442-58. PMCID: PMC4178815
8. Queen KJ, Shi M, Zhang F, Cvek U, Scott RS. 2013. Epstein–Barr virus-induced epigenetic alterations following transient infection. Int J Cancer 132(9):2076-86. PMCID: PMC3578144

Postdocs: We are not actively recruiting postdoctoral fellows, but qualified candidates will be considered. Inquiries should be directed to Dr. Scott.

Graduate students: Students interested in working in our Department should visit our Graduate Program website.

Undergraduate students: Our Undergraduate Biomedical Research Fellowship program provides bright undergraduates a chance to gain hands-on research experience through a paid internship. Learn more about our Undergraduate Fellowship.