Associate Professor
Phone: (239) 590-7438
E-Mail: sisern@fgcu.edu
Office: AB7 304

Sharon Isern is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and has been at Florida Gulf Coast University since 2004. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She conducted postdoctoral fellowships in molecular virology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Tulane University. Before coming to FGCU, she worked as a Research Assistant Professor at Tulane University. Dr. Isern has received research support from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the US Department of Agriculture.

Teaching Interests:
Cell Biology
Virology

Research Interests:
Molecular biology of viruses
Virus entry mechanisms
Antiviral and vaccine strategies

Recent Publications: (* = FGCU graduate)

• Graham AS, Pruszynski CA, Hribar LJ, DeMay DJ, Tambasco AN, Hartley AE, Fussell EM, Michael SF, Isern S. “Mosquito-associated dengue virus, Key West, Florida, USA, 2010”, Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2011 vol. 17, no. 11, p. 2074-2075, http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1711.110419
• Schieffelin JS, Costin JM, *Nicholson CO, Orgeron NM, *Fontaine KA, Isern S, Michael SF, Robinson JE. “Neutralizing and non-neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies against dengue virus E protein from a naturally infected patient”, Virology Journal 2010, 7:28.
• Costin JM, Jenwitheesuk E, *Rees CR, Hunsperger E, Conrads K, *Fontaine KA, Isern S, Samudrala R, Michael SF. “Structural Optimization and De Novo Design of Dengue Virus Entry Inhibitory Peptides”, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2010 4(6): e721. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000721.
• *Nicholson CO, Costin JM, *Rowe DK, Lin L, Jenwitheesuk E, Samudrala R, Isern S, Michael SF. “Viral entry inhibitors block dengue antibody-dependent enhancement in vitro”, Antiviral Research 89:71–74 (2011).