RICHARD KUHN

The Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor in Science
Department of Biological Sciences
Krenicki Family Director, Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease
765-494-1164
HOCK 225
kuhnr@purdue.edu

Associated website(s):

PULSe - Interdisciplinary Life Science , Lab Website , Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease (PI4D) , Publications

PROFESSIONAL FACULTY RESEARCH

(Molecular biology and animal virology) Viral gene expression; virus-host interactions; pathogenesis; virus receptors and virus assembly.

BIO

My laboratory is interested in the replication, assembly and structure of RNA viruses with an emphasis on their interactions with the host. Our molecular studies utilize cutting edge tools in functional genomics, high throughput systems technologies, cell biology, and structural biology. Our focus in recent years has been on model systems in the alphavirus and flavivirus groups, and include viruses such as Sindbis, Chikungunya, dengue, West Nile, and hepatitis C viruses. Most of these human viruses are transmitted by insect vectors and therefore alternate between widely diverse hosts. Directly related to our basic studies is application-based research that seeks to identify new therapeutics for disease intervention.

Education

B.S. 1981 Biochemistry/Chemistry State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook

Ph.D. 1986 Molecular Virology State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook

Awards and Honors

National Research Service Award (1988-1990)
NIH First Award (1993-1996)
Indiana Elks Cancer Award (1995)
Chiscon Undergraduate Teaching Award (1999)
Novum Lecturer, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (March 2002)
Purdue University Faculty Scholar, 2004-2009
Faculty of 1000 Biology – Faculty Member (2004-present)
Member of the U.S. Panel on Viral Diseases of the US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program, 2007-2015; Chair, 2016-present
Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology, 2007-present
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2007-present
Herbert Newby McCoy Award for Outstanding Research Contributions (2008)
CIC Fellow, Academic Leadership Program (2008-2009)
Lecturer, American Society for Microbiology, 2011-2013
Purdue, Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) 2009-2020; Deputy Chair, 2014-2020; Chair, 2020-present.
Purdue Safe Campus Task Force, 2020 - present
Purdue's PhD Commencement Speaker, 8/2021

Other Activities

Editorial Boards

Virology (2002-present); Editor-in-Chief (2019-2021)
Journal of Virology (1996-2019; 2020-2022)
Viruses (2009-present); Associate Editor
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, Editor (2012-2022)
PLoS Pathogens, Associate Editor (2014-present)

Grant Reviews/Study Sections

European Union
Wellcome Trust
Fort Detrick Encephalomyelitis Program Review (AIBS 3/98)
NIH Special Emphasis Panel on Biodefense and Infectious Disease, Chair (11/03, 3/04)
NIH Experimental Virology Study Section, Ad hoc reviewer (2/99); Member (7-99-6/03)
CDC Special Emphasis Panel on West Nile Virus, Chair (8/04)
NIH Virology A Study Section, Ad hoc reviewer (6/05, 2/07)
NCI Site Visit Panel Review, Nanobiology Program and Structural Biophysics Laboratory (5/06)
NIH Special Emphasis Study Section on Viral Pathogenesis, Chair (2/07,6/07)
NIH Study Section on Pathogenic Viruses, (10/07)
NIH Study Section on Topics in Virology, Chair (6/08; 10/11; 11/12)
NIH Special Emphasis in Pathogenesis, Chair (7/08)
NIH Study Section on Vaccines Against Microbial Diseases, Chair (10/08)
Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) West Nile Virus Vaccine Panel Review (AIBS 7/09); Discovery-Infectious Diseases (Dengue-Malaria (DEN-MAL 12/13)
NIH Study Section on Non-HIV Anti-Infective Therapeutics, (3/09; Chair: 6/09, 11/09, 2/10, 6/10,10/10, 2/11, 7/11)
Invited Evaluator for the European Commission, Research Proposals FP7-Health-2011 Single Stage (2011)
Member, NIAID Viral Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource, Scientific Working Group, (2010-2016)
Member, College of CSR Reviews, (2010-2012)
Member, (AIBS) Viral Diseases Panel, US Army Medical Research and Materia Command, Military Infectious Diseases Research Program, 2012-present
NIH Pregnancy & Neonatology (PN) Study Section, SRO reviewer (9/2013)
NIH/NIAID, Special Emphasis Panel, Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings, Reviewer (11/13)
Medical Research Council, University College London QQR member of subcommittee reviewer (2016)
Special Emphasis Panel, ZAI1-JKB-M-J3 Reviewer (11/15); Special Emphasis Panel, ZNS1 SRB-A, Reviewer (7/16, 9/16, 1/17, 3/17); Special Emphasis Panel, ZRG1 IDM-X (02) M (10/18).
NIAID/NIH Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (MID) Study Section (2014-2018)
NIH/NIAID, Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) review meeting, Ad hoc reviewer, Dec. 14-16, 2020
Member of NIAID Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) Study Review P01 applications– ZAI1 VSR-I (S2)1, May 17, 2021.
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Panel Member, National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Session on COVID-19 Mutations, June 16-17, 2021

Advisory Board

Member, SARS Advisory Board, University of Illinois at Chicago (2008 - 2009)
Great Lakes Regional Center for Excellence in Biodefense in Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (GLRCE) Executive Board Member (9/04-12/12)
Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Sentinext Therapeutics (2010-2016)
Member, Center of Biomedical Research Excellence External Advisory Committee, University of Hawaii at Manoa, (2009-2019)
Vice Chair, Program Planning Committee of the American Society of Virology, 2012-2013; Chair (2014-2015)
Member, NSF Biological Sciences Advisory Committee (12/15/17-Dec. 31, 2021)
President Elect, World Society of Virology, (2021-present)
Member, Pandemic Security Initiative Scientific Advisory Board (2020-present)
Invited consultant to serve on Istari Oncology, Inc. external Technical Advisory Board, Research Park, NC, July 16, 2021 and Oct. 1, 2021.

Conferences and Workshops

Chair and panel member for the U.S-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program (CMSP) 50th Anniversary Celebration and 18 ^th International Conference on “ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) in the Pacific Rim ” and panel meeting, Jan.11-15, 2016, North Bethesda, MD. Title of presentation “Maturity of dengue virus and its role in disease”
“Structure-function studies of dengue virus and its proteins” invited speaker at The Scripps Research Institute, Feb. 11. 2016.
Invited Panel: Disease Pathogenesis and Consequences of Zika Infection speaker at the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) Research Priorities to Inform Public Health and Medical Practice for Domestic Zika Virus: A Workshop, Feb. 16, 2016, Washington, DC.
External Department Reviewer, Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, March 2-3, 2016, Detroit, MI.
Invited speaker and member in the COBRE (Center for Biomedical Research Excellence) External Advisory Committee (EAC) meeting, March 28-30, 2016, University of Hawaii at Monoa, Honolulu, HI.
“The Cryo-EM structure of Zika Virus” invited speaker at the special Zika session at the 5 ^th Pan-American Dengue Research Network Meeting, April 21-23, 2016, Panama City, Panama.
“Structure-Function Studies of Flavivirus Replication Proteins” invited speaker at the Keystone Symposium on Positive-Strand RNA Viruses, May 1-6, 2016, Austin, Texas
Convener of Workshop Session: “Flaviviruses IV: Gene Expression” at the 2016 American Society for Virology, June 18-22, 2016, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Speaker: “The Structure of Zika Virus”
Invited Keynote Lecturer “Structure of Human Enterovirus 71 and Implications for Virus Intervention” at the Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease International Conference, July 25-26, 2016, Biopolis,Singapore.
“Role of Structural and Non-Structural Proteins in Flavivirus Assembly and Maturation” invited guest seminar speaker at the Singapore Immunology Network (SlgN), July 27, 2016, Biopolis, Singapore.
Invited Keynote Lecturer “The Cryo-EM Structure of Zika Virus” at the Midwest Association of Core Director’s (MWACD) meeting of the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities, Oct. 5-7, 2016, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Invited member of the Subcommittee for the quinquennial review of the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London (LMCB), Oct. 18-20, 2016, London
Invited speaker and Chair of the Panel of Japanese Virus Diseases of the US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program joint working conference and symposium speaker at the 64 ^th Annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Virology. Title of talk “Maturation of flaviruses and its role in disease”, Oct. 23- 25, 2016, Sapporo, Japan.
Chair of session at the 65 ^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Nov. 13-17, 2016, Atlanta, GA. Invited speaker: “Maturation of flaviviruses and role in disease”.
Invited speaker “Assembly and maturation of Dengue and Zika viruses” at the 2016-2017 Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Program” at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Dec. 8-9, 2016, Roanoke, VA.
Invited participant of the NIH/NIAID World Health Organization Workshop entitled “Scientific Consultation on Zika Virus Vaccine Development”, NIAID Fishers Lane Conference Center, Jan. 10-11, 2017, Rockville, MD.
Invited speaker and participant at the Third Coast Workshop on Biological Cryo-EM at University of Chicago, Northwestern University organized by Argonne National Laboratory. Title of presentation “Cryo-EM studies reveal details on Zika Virus and Dengue Virus Biology. March 3, 2017.
Invited participant in the strategy session for the Cryo-EM Center proposal planning meeting, Argonne National Laboratory, March 6-8, 2017, Lemont, IL.
Visited several high end life sciences research facilities in India and presented at each on “Assembly and Maturation of Dengue and Zika Viruses” (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore) and Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, India, April 1-7, 2017
Invited speaker at the 2017 COBRE Mini-Symposium, University of Hawaii at Monoa. Title of talk “Assembly and Maturation of Dengue and Zika Viruses” and attended as a member of the COBRE external advisory board committee meeting, April 20-21, 2017, Honolulu, HI.
As a board member, attended the Editorial Board Meeting for Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (MMBR) and attended the ASM Microbe 2017 meeting, June 1-2, 2017, New Orleans, LA.
Invited participant at the Howard Baker Forum/Global Challenges Roundtable series, Facing the Zika Crisis and other Emerging Threats, June 7-8, 2017, Washington, DC.
Invited speaker at the 10 ^th Arthropod Geneomics Symposium (AGS), Metagenomics Session. Title of talk “Lipidomic and Proteomic Analyses of Flavivirus-Vector Interations” on June 9-10, 2017, University of Notre Dame, IN.
Invited plenary workshop session (Arboviruses I) speaker at the International Union of Microbiological Societies 2017 (IUMS), 17 ^th International Congress of Virology (ICV) meeting. Title of talk “Structure, Maturation, and Antibody Binding of Zika and Related Flaviviruses”, July 17-21, 2017, Singapore
Invited speaker at the Vector-Borne Symposium at Rocky Mountain Laboratories. Title of session talk “Zika Structure” on July 31-Aug. 1, 2017, Hamilton, MT.
Attended and presented a poster at the 2 ^nd International Meeting on Abroviruses and their Vectors. Title of poster “Structure-function studies of dengue virus NS1 reveals new roles of the protein in the virus life cycle”, Sept. 7-8, 2017, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Invited keynote speaker at the 17 ^th Annual Rocky Mountain Virology Meeting. Title of talk “Structure-function studies of Zika and related flaviviruses”, Sept. 22-24, 2017, CSU Mountain Campus, CO.
Invited Plenary Lecture Speaker at the 24 ^th International Symposium on Hepatitis C and Related Viruses (HCV). Title of lecture “Structure and Maturation of Zika and Related Flaviviruses”, Sept. 25-28, 2017, Hyannis, MA.
Invited Keynote Speaker at the International Conference one Building Human and Animal Health Capacities – Transformation through improving Livelihoods. Oct. 11-12, 2017, Amman, Jordan.
Attended the Department of Biological Sciences retreat, Nov. 10-12, 2017, Tradewinds Lakeside Inn, Bloomington, IN.
Invited speaker and member at the USJCMSP 20 ^th International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Pacific Rim. Presented in the Viral Diseases Panel, title of talk “Structural Studies of Flavivirus Antibody Complexes”, Jan. 8-11, 2018, Shenzhen, China.
Invited speaker at the University of Iowa, Depts. Of Internal Medicine & Microbiology and Immunology, Title of seminar “Dengue and Zika viruses have a hard time growing up”, Feb. 27, 2018, Iowa City, IA.
Invited speaker and member of the COBRE External Advisory Board attended the 2018 COBRE External Advisory Committee (EAC) Meeting. Title of talk “Structure, Composition and Maturation of Zika and Related Flaviviruses”, March 8-9, 2018, Manoa, HI.
Attended as a member of the NSF Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) 2018 meeting, April 1-3, 2018, Alexandria, VA.
Invited speaker and on the organizing committee at the 9 ^th International Virus Assembly Symposium. Title of talk “Dengue virus NS1 functions in virus assembly and enhances virus attachment and entry”, May 6-10, 2018, Madeira, Portugal.
Collaboration on project with Dr. Ted Pierson, NIH/NIAID Laboratory of Viral Diseases, June 3-5, 2018, Bethesda, MD.
Meeting with CTSI, IUPUI collaborators to discuss CRYO-EM Consortium grant, July 24, 2018, Indianapolis, IN.
Attended as Biology Directorate of the National Science Foundation, Advisory Committee Fall 2018 meeting, Sept. 20-21, 2018, Alexandria, VA.
Invited Symposium speaker at the 66 ^th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Virology Program sponsored by the U.S. Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program. Title of symposium “Novel approaches for revealing virus infection dynamics”, Oct. 28-30, 2018, Kyoto, Japan.
Invited seminar speaker at the University of Texas Medical Branch/Galveston, title of seminar “Assembly, maturation and infectivity of flaviviruses”, Nov. 29, 2018, Galveston, TX.
Invited seminar speaker at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology. Title of seminar “Assembly, maturation and infectivity of flaviviruses”, Dec. 20, 2018, Indianapolis, IN
Invited Keynote speaker at the Virus-Host Symposium at Mount Sinai-NYU. Title of lecture “Assembly, maturation and infectivity of flaviviruses”, Jan. 22, 2019, Mount Sinai, NY.
Attended and participated as a member of the COBRE (Center of Biomedical Research Excellence) External Advisory Committee (EAC) and mini-symposium, at the University of Hawaii at Monoa, Honolulu, HI, March 19-20, 2019.
Attended the Editors Meeting as Editor of the Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (MMBR Editoral Board, April 8, 2019, Washington, DC.
As Member of the Scientific Advisory Board attend the Annual Meeting for the Zika P01 grant, April 18, 2019, Rockefeller University, New York, NY.
Attended as a member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) subcommittee meeting, May 1, 2019, Alexandria, VA.
Attended the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases Co-PI meeting, May 8, 2019 and Moderator of Session on “Discussion on Vaccine Development” at the CSGID/SSGCID Joint Annual Programmatic Meeting, May 9, 2019, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Invited speaker at the Keystone Symposia Conference on Positive-Strand RNA Viruses, “Budding Induces Symmetry Defects in Flavivirus Virions” in the Virus Structure and Entry Session, June 9-13, 2019, Killiney, Ireland.
Attended the Virology Editors Meeting, July 19, 2019 at then attended the Annual American Society of Virology (ASV) 38 ^th Annual Meeting, July 20-24, 2019, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Invited speaker at the IMAV International Meeting on Arboviruses and their Vectors. Title of lecture “Budding induces symmetry defects in flavivirus visions” Sept. 5-6, 2019, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Attended working group/grant meeting with various PI’s on Flavivirus R01 grants, Sept. 11, 2019, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Attended as member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) subcommittee meeting the Fall 2019 meeting, Sept. 19-20, 2019, Alexandria, VA.
Invited seminar speaker at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology. Title of seminar “Structure of flaviviruses and the challenges it imposes on antibody recognition, Nov. 19, 2019, Milwaukee, WI.
Invited Keynote speaker at the 2019 Australian Virology Society Conference. Title of session “Virus structure, receptors and assembly”. Title of lecture “Structure studies of Flaviviruses”, Dec. 2-5, 2019, Queenstown, New Zealand.
Invited speaker at the NIAID Workshop on AFM Preparedness: Addressing EV-D68 and Other AFM-Associated Enteroviruses. Section III: Enterovirus Therapeutics: “Novel enterovirus therapeutics: structure-based design” Feb. 18-20, 2020, Rockville, MD.
Participant in the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program (USJCMSP) at the 22 ^nd International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Pacific Rim. Viral Diseases Panel Meeting on February 24-27, 2020. Invited speaker: “Enterovirus-D68: structure of neutralizing antibodies and inhibitors”. Attended separate USJCMSP panel/board meeting, Feb. 27, Bangkok, Thailand.
Virtual meeting as member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) subcommittee meeting, April 30, 2020, Alexandria, VA.
Invited speaker for a virtual seminar sponsored by the AR&D Innovation Team for Merck. Title of seminar “Structure-function studies of Zika, Dengue and related flaviviruses“, May 20, 2020
Virtual meeting as member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) subcommittee meeting, October 29-30, 2020, Alexandria, VA.
Invited speaker for the Virtual 22 ^nd Annual Norman P. Salzman Memorial Awards and Symposium in Basic and Clinical Virology! Zoom meeting Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Title “Flavivirus Structure – Maybe a lot more complicated (interesting!) than we thought” Nov. 9, 2020
Keynote Speaker “Understanding and Overcoming Coronavirus” at Women’s Global Health Institute, Women’s Health Research Symposium “Women's Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic” Nov. 13, 2020, Purdue University (virtual meeting)
Invited participant and speaker at the Merck-Purdue Center for Measurement Science Symposium. Presentation Jan. 13-14, 2021 “Discussion on potential new collaborations” PI4D. (virtual meeting)
NIAID Council Virtual Meeting Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Jan. 25, 2021
Invited Seminar Speaker for the Center for Virus Research, Winter 2021 Virtual Seminar Series. Title of talk “Structural studies of Zika Dengue and related flaviviruses” University of California/Irvine, Feb. 19, 2021.
Workshop Moderator (Chair) US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program: Virtual Workshop on COVID-19, Feb. 24-26, 2021
Virtual meeting as a member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) subcommittee meeting, April, 15-16, 2021, Alexandria, VA.
SGX Centers Virtual Annual Program Meeting, May 28, 2021, Virtual meeting.
World Society of Virology: “Tracking Global Viral Epidemics” Virtual Conference, June 16-18, 2021
Virtual meeting as Editor of the Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (MMBR) Editorial Board, July 2, 2021, Washington, DC.
Invited speaker at the 12 ^th Annual Conference for Assistant Professors “Institutional Resources to Soar to Promotion”. Title of talk “Collaborating and Networking” Oct. 13-14, 2021. Conference by the Butler Center and the Office of the Provost, Purdue University. Virtual Meeting,
Program and Organizer Chair of the Michael G. Rossmann Sympsoium 2021 “A Celebration Honoring Professor Michael G. Rossmann, In-person and virtual, Oct. 24-26, 2021, Stewart Center, Purdue University.
Virtual meeting as a member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO AC) subcommittee meeting, Nov. 3-4, 2021, Alexandria, VA.
Invited participant and speaker of the NIAID Workshop on Pandemic Preparedness: Prototype Pathogen Approach to Accelerate Medical Countermeasures – Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies. Co-Chair of Flaviviridae Group Session, Nov. 8-9, 2021, Virtual Meeting.

Faculty Presentations

Richard Kuhn has made faculty presentations at the following institutions over the last three years: Northwestern University, Georgetown University Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, Montana State University, University of Texas Medical Branch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, John Hopkins University School of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chiang Mai University and Mahidol University (Thailand), Stockholm (Sweden), Yale University School of Medicine