Zhenzhen Yuan

PhD student

Background

I am Zhenzhen Yuan, and I am from China. I got my master’s degree at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, majoring in pathogenic biology. My research involved analyzing HIV-1 envelope genes and neutralization characteristics of a chronically HIV-1 infected patient with broadly neutralization activity and evaluating antibody gene evolution by deep sequencing and bioinformatics.

Project

Now, I am a PhD candidate in Sebastian’s group at the University of Groningen; my topic is about clarifying the impact of co-infections between two types of insect-specific flaviviruse (ISFs) and mosquito-borne flaviviruses in vitro. As ISFs are so prevalent in mosquitoes, I am curious about their impact on co-infection with arboviruses in mosquitoes. I hope it can provide new insights into using ISFs as a biocontrol agents to reduce arbovirus transmission.

Funding

My PhD project is supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC).