Author name: Gertrud U. Rey

Gertrud Rey (who also goes by Trudy Rey) is a trained virologist who resides in Atlanta, Georgia. She has a PhD in molecular genetics and biochemistry from Georgia State University, where her studies involved the analysis of various aspects of the genetics of West Nile virus and simian hemorrhagic fever virus. After finishing the PhD program in 2007, she accepted a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she continued to study virology in the context of respiratory syncytial virus, with a more pronounced focus on immunology. During that time, she was also a lecturer at Georgia State University, where she designed an undergraduate biology course and supervised teaching assistants at the university’s biology laboratory. In 2012, she decided to retire from bench science and lecturing to pursue a career in patent law. She is now registered as a patent agent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and works for a major law firm. Her day to day responsibilities include preparing and prosecuting U.S. and international patent applications in the field of molecular and cell biology, virology, biochemistry, genetic engineering, tissue engineering, transgenic biology, stem cell research, immunology, drug delivery, phage therapeutics, and medical devices. However, Trudy still spends much of her free time communicating science, both for virology blog, and for her very own YouTube channel, where she hosts a show about viruses called “Catch This.” You can also find her on X, under the handle “Dr. T.” Trudy was also a guest on TWiV 179 and 424.

There Is No Need to Panic About Bird Flu

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by Gertrud U. Rey Public health officials are continuing to monitor the spread of avian H5N1, the strain of influenza virus associated with “bird flu.” Although there is still no evidence that this virus can transmit from one person to another, two recently infected individuals are attracting close attention because the source of their infection …

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Sloth Fever

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by Gertrud U. Rey Recent news headlines have featured a mysterious and presumably new illness termed “sloth fever.” More aptly named Oropouche fever, the disease is caused by Oropouche virus (OROV), an arthropod-borne virus that is transmitted primarily through the biting midge Culicoides paraensis. OROV typically circulates in sloths, non-human primates, and birds, but it …

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Active vs. Passive Immunity

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by Gertrud U. Rey During the first few months of life, residual maternal antibodies that crossed the placenta during gestation and antibodies from breast milk protect infants from infection with various microbes. This type of immune protection is known as “passive immunity,” and differs from “active immunity,” which develops in an individual following vaccination or …

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