Alexander Ploss completed his Ph.D. in Immunology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Cornell University and postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University in New York City. He was member of faculty at The Rockefeller University before joining Princeton University in 2013. Dr. Ploss is a Professor of Molecular Biology, member of the executive committee of the Center Health and Wellbeing, a fellow in the Program in Global Health and Health Policy at Princeton University and a faculty advisor at Forbes College. Professor Ploss is also a member of the Genomic Instability and Tumor Progression Program at the Cancer Institute of NJ(Link is external) (Link opens in new window)

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Dr. Ploss’ lab is interested in human-tropic viral pathogens, including but not limited to hepatitis viruses, classical flaviviruses such as Zika, yellow fever and dengue viruses – and since the beginning of the pandemic SARS-CoV-2. Research in the Ploss lab covers three main areas of investigation: Deciphering mechanisms of viral infection/replication, systematically identifying barriers preventing transmission of human viral pathogens to non-primate species and translating their discoveries into devising experimental systems that are suitable for dissecting host responses to these diseases.

In support and recognition of his work Dr. Ploss received numerous awards including the including the Astella’s Young Investigator Award from the Infectious Disease Society of America, the Liver Scholar Award from the American Liver Foundation, the Löffler-Frosch Prize from the German Society of Virology, Merck Irving Sigal Memorial Award from the American Society for Microbiology, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award.