Dr. Karupiah is internationally regarded as an expert in his field with a large body of creative and original work on immunity to poxvirus infections. He uses a number of viral models but the focus is principally on a poxvirus model in its natural host Smallpox is the only human viral disease successfully eradicated with live virus vaccine. Using mouse models of poxvirus infection (mousepox virus and vaccinia virus), his group is investigating why the vaccine was so effective, as this will yield useful molecular signatures for understanding protective immunity to viruses in general and for developing more efficacious vaccines for other viral diseases. He also uses the mousepox model to understand the genetic and immunologic basis for resistance and susceptibility to smallpox. Knowledge from the basic research is used to engineer recombinant poxvirus vaccine vectors to develop vaccination strategies against new and emerging infectious disease threats, such as pandemic influenza and dengue virus infections.