William T. Jackson

William T. Jackson is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine. His research focuses on viral pathogenesis, particularly how picornaviruses (poliovirus, rhinovirus, enterovirus D-68) manipulate cellular autophagy and membrane trafficking to facilitate replication and spread.

• Education: B.S. from MIT (1993), Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (1999), Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford Medical School (2000-2006)
• Key Research Areas: Autophagy subversion, viral replication organelles, non-lytic release mechanisms, placental antiviral defense

The Jackson Lab investigates how viruses like poliovirus induce autophagosomes to create replication niches, while rhinovirus 1A exploits Golgi fragmentation. Their work on enterovirus D-68 linked autophagy regulation to acute flaccid myelitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome. They discovered roles for SNARE proteins, TBC1D20, and SIRT-1 in viral lifecycle processes.

Recent studies highlight TFEB cleavage by viral proteases, HMGB1-RAGE interactions in EV-D68 entry, and mitophagosome-mediated non-lytic viral egress. These findings inform broad antiviral strategies targeting cellular pathways rather than viral proteins.