The Baxter Lab is primarily a translational research lab, focusing on the use and development of mouse models to study the pathogenesis of emerging infectious diseases, such as chikungunya virus (CHIKV). CHIKV represents a reemerging public health threat with both arthritogenic and neurologic disease symptoms. Our lab is specifically interested in how the immune reaction to CHIKV can be both protective and harmful in individuals affected by the disease. Additionally, as a veterinarian-scientist, Dr. Baxter uses her comparative medicine training and experience to refine animal models to maximize their translatability. Our lab also employs a ‘dirty mouse’ model where standard specific pathogen free laboratory mice are infected with a series of infectious agents. This prior infection exposure, or 'PIE' process increases the maturity and heterogeneity of a mouse’s immune system in a controlled way so it better mimics a human immune system, allowing us to then evaluate the immune response to experimental infection or potential medical countermeasures.
