Dr. Vanlandingham’s research is focused on the interactions between arboviruses, the mosquito vectors, and the vertebrate host. Infectious clone technology is used to identify the molecular determinants of infection of alphaviruses, bunyaviruses, and flaviviruses. There are currently four areas of research in her laboratory: 1) Rift Valley fever virus vaccine development; 2) examining vector competence of North American mosquitoes for Japanese encephalitis virus; 3) rationale vaccine design based on characterizing yellow fever virus to identify molecular determinants of infectivity and transmissibility by Ae. aegypti mosquitoes; and 4) assessing CHIKV-mosquito interactions and virus inactivation procedures to ensure blood transfusion safety.Dana obtained her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Colorado State University and her Ph.D from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2006.