\u201cWe have now found that there is as second type that also becomes infected.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re investigating how the virus is \u201crelayed\u201d through these dendritic cells and passed on to other immune cells.\u201d<\/p>\n HSV is extremely common, with an estimated 3.7 billion worldwide infected with HSV-1 and 417 million with HSV-2. While symptoms, including blisters known as \u2018cold sores\u2019, are mild for most individuals, certain groups may have more severe side effects.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people with HSV will have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, HSV can cause complications for newborns and patients with weakened immune systems,\u201d Naomi explained.<\/p>\n \u201cGenital HSV-2 infection has also been shown to facilitate HIV infection.\u201d<\/p>\n Naomi hopes that understanding how the virus is passed through immune cells will help identify targets that could be used in vaccine development.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, there is no cure for HSV, and medications are not preventative. A vaccine could prevent at-risk groups from suffering potential complications of the virus, and also reduce rates of HIV infection,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Naomi was one of just two junior investigators to receive an award for a presentation. She found the award to be very encouraging.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve presented a talk at an international meeting, let alone won a prize so it\u2019s very exciting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s encouraging that the work we\u2019re doing is valued by other researchers. I look forward to having the opportunity to present my work again.\u201d<\/p>\n Well done, Naomi!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Postdoctoral researcher Naomi Truong has received an award for her presentation at the 43rd annual International Herpesvirus Workshop in Vancouver. She presented her research on the relationship between dendritic cells found in the skin and the herpes simplex virus (HSV). \u201cPreviously, we showed that Langerhans cells, a type of epidermal dendritic cell, become infected with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2798,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2796","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Naomi-Truong_award.jpg\")