Welcome to the Institute for Molecular Virology! 

The IMV fosters and promotes virology education, translational applications and fundamental research in virology at the University of Minnesota, with particular focus on enhancing the research and career development of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows through interdisciplinary and interprofessional interactions. 

IMV researchers work toward or at the molecular level, where virus research intersects with other applications. Currently, our members work on HIV/AIDS, herpes virus, avian and pandemic flu, West Nile virus and  other vital areas of research.

7th International Retroviral NC Symposium

September 14-16, 2009 -- University of Minnesota

Registration is open!

Click here for the 7th International Retroviral NC Symposium website

The 7th International Symposium on Retroviral Nucleocapsid and Nucleocapsid-like Proteins will be held at the McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota from September 14-16, 2009. 

Nucleocapsid (NC) plays multiple roles in the viral life cycle and is therefore a prime target for anti-HIV therapy. NC is involved in the synthesis, maintenance and integration of proviral DNA, and in virus particle assembly. All these processes will be covered at the meeting. Other proteins playing a role in the viral life cycle that are either associated with NC, or resemble it in structure or function, such as the antiviral APOBEC3G protein, will also be discussed at the conference. In addition, we will be expanding the emphasis to discuss additional viruses with proteins similar to NC, including the hepatitis C virus.

 We anticipate an international attendance of about 150 people, consisting of the worldwide top researchers in the fields of NC, reverse transcription, viral assembly and antivirals/vaccines.

Research in Progress 

2009-2010 speakers coming soon! 

Talks are held at 4pm on the second Monday of the month in 450 CCRB

Click for a list of speakers

2009 UMN-Mayo Lectures in Virology & Gene Therapy

Charles Weissmann, M.D., Ph.D., Scripps Research Institute

Wednesday, June 17, 4pm, 5-125 Moos Tower 
(Teleconferenced to UMN-Rochester, University Square 367)
"The winding path from phage to prion"

Thursday, June 18, Noon, Leighton Auditorium, Mayo Clinic
(Teleconferenced to 5-125 Moos Tower)
"The secret life of prion strains"

University of Minnesota Virology News

Annual IMV Symposium

The 2009 IMV Symposium took  place on Monday, May 4th, 2009.  Keynote speakers were Don Ganem (HHMI & University of California San Francisco) and Stephen Hughes (HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI-Frederick).  Pictures and program to come!

The 2008 IMV Symposium took place on Monday, May 12 at the Coffman Memorial Theater. Invited Keynote Speakers were Dr. Jonathan Stoye (NIMR, London) and Dr. Sandra Weller (University of Connecticut Health Center).

Pictures and program, 2007 symposium 

Click here for information about the 2006 IMV Symposium, a program and pictures!

Mayo Clinic-University of Minnesota Distinguished Lecture Series in Virology and Gene Therapy

The 1st Annual Mayo Clinic-University of Minnesota Distinguished Lecturer will be Dr. Charles Weissmann (Scripps-Florida).  Dr. Weissmann will present lectures on June 17 and 18 at both the Mayo Clinic and at the U of M.  Each lecture will be videoconferenced to the other campus.  This is a collaborative lecture series between the Virology and Gene Therapy (VGT) Track of the Mayo Graduate School and the Institute for Molecular Virology.  Please watch this space for further details.

Virology Journal Club

The Virology Journal Club meets on Wednesdays at 1:30 pm in the Department of Microbiology conference room (1450 Mayo Building).

The setting is informal, so it's a great time to become more comfortable speaking in front of others and leading a discussion about a specific virus research article.

Virology Journal Club

Visit the IMV virology timeline!

IMV on Facebook and Twitter

The IMV is now on both Facebook and Twitter (MinnesotaIMV).  Check us out!

IMV Lecture Series

The 2009 IMV "Innovations in Virus Research" Lecture Series features David Bloom (Florida) on June 15, Tom Hope (Northwestern) on Sept 21 and Xiaowei Zhuang (Harvard) on Nov 16 as speakers.  Watch for updates!

Last year, the 2008 IMV "Innovations in Virus Research" Lecture Series featured Marie-Louise Hammarskjold (Virginia), Michael Gale (Washington, Seattle), and Grant Jensen (Caltech). 

2007 "Innovations in Virus Research" series

Past IMV Seminar Speakers

Other U of M Virology Seminars of Interest

IMV Fall Picnic

The 2008 Fall Picnic was held on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at the Como Park Picnic Pavilion.

Click the link below for pictures from the 2007 Fall Picnic (held on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007) at the Como Park Picnic Pavilion.

Picnic pictures