Shana Owens

Shana Owens, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine. She holds the position of UAMS Translation Research Institute (TRI) Health Science Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HSIE) Post-Doctoral Scholar under mentor Craig Forrest. Her doctoral research focused on gammaherpesvirus interactions with host germinal center responses during latency, and she continues this work to understand viral pathogenesis and develop vaccination strategies.

Her research emphasizes gammaherpesvirus latency-associated gene products, viral manipulation of adaptive immunity, and mechanisms disrupting host germinal center reactions. This work aims to identify therapeutic targets and vaccination approaches against EBV and KSHV-associated cancers. Her lab is located in Biomed I Room 512/516.

Key research themes include viral latency mechanisms, host immune evasion strategies, and the role of specific genes (e.g., p53, STAT3) in viral persistence. Recent studies explore ACE2 autoantibodies post-SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine development using replication-deficient viruses.

Her contributions span virology, immunology, and public health, with notable work on SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence patterns in Arkansas. She has published on gammaherpesvirus biology, viral latency, and diagnostic tools for feline gammaherpesvirus infections.