Dr. Nancy Sawtell is Professor and Principal Investigator in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Dr. Sawtell is currently President of the Histochemical Society, a member of the Faculty of 1000, serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, as an Academic Editor for PloS One, and as reviewer for numerous journals as well as a reviewer for NIH and International grant review panels.
She received her PhD in Pathology and Immunology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her research focuses broadly on the mechanisms of disease and specifically on Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) pathogenesis in the nervous system. Reactivation of HSV from a reservoir of latently infected neurons in the peripheral and central nervous systems underlie the disease caused by this human pathogen. The goal of Sawtell’s research is to understand viral/neuronal interactions as these relate to the mechanisms that regulate HSV latency and reactivation. Insights into this complex regulation require “in context” analyses at the single neuron level. Histo- and immunohistochemical techniques are essential tools utilized to dissect this process. An additional facet to Sawtell’s research is the application of forward genetic approaches to identify host and viral genes that modulate susceptibility and resistance to infectious diseases.
Dr. Sawtell is actively engaged in mentoring and teaching fellows and graduate students. She serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Herpes Virus Workshop and is a member of the organizing committee for the Alpha Herpes Virus Workshop.
