VCOM Louisiana Research Day Program

Keynote Speaker

Jeremy P. Kamil, PhD Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport

Jeremy P. Kamil, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport (LSUHS). Dr. Kamil’s research has focused on human cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that silently infects most people but is a leading cause of birth defects and of devastating opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed people. In March 2020, at the outset of the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Kamil spearheaded the establishment of a local viral genome sequencing program, which would grow to become the #1 source of variant surveillance data from the state of Louisiana. In fact, as of Jan. 30, 2023, the LSUHS Emerging Viral Threats Laboratory has shared 17,875 coronavirus genome sequences via GISAID, the major global sharing mechanism for COVID-19 variant data. Dr. Kamil has advocated for decentralized approaches to viral genomic surveillance, including rapid sharing of the resulting data. Recently, he led a Rockefeller Foundation grant to establish viral genome sequencing capacity at smaller, rural academic institutions, including historically Black colleges and universities.

Dr. Kamil’s work identifying coronavirus variants has been covered in national media outlets, such as the New York Times and CBS Evening News. He has also been interviewed on NPR about coronavirus variants, including a major segment on WNYC’s ‘On the Media,’ about the importance of properly crediting S. African, Botswana and Hong Kong who discovered the Omicron variant. Dr. Kamil’s major ongoing research focuses on how CMV manipulates glycobiology for immune evasion.

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