Position: Assistant Professor
Department: College of Sciences
Phone: 610-282-1100, x2111
Office: 129 Hurd Science Center
Dia Beachboard is interested in host-pathogen interactions. As an undergraduate student, she studied microbiology and became very interested in this constant battle between the host and microbes. She did her undergraduate research studying the etiology of Mycobacterium ulcerans at the University of Tennessee with Dr. Pamela Small.
Following this, she studied how Coronaviruses manipulate host cell membranes in order to form virus replication factories at Vanderbilt University under the guidance of Dr. Mark Denison. Her work focused on how post-translational modification of one of the membrane modification proteins regulates the proteins function in membrane modification and viral fitness.
After graduating, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University in the lab of Dr. Stacy Horner, where she studied host proteins that regulate antiviral innate immunity. During innate immunity, the signaling proteins are relocated to intracellular membranes. She discovered a trafficking protein that facilitates the interaction of one of the signaling proteins with the membrane bound signaling complex.
Her research interest focuses on how coronaviruses interact with the host cell during infection. For more information please see her lab website.
At DeSales she teaches Microbiology, Immunology, and Virology courses. Outside of teaching and research, Dr. Beachboard enjoys crafting (crochet, cross stitch, and sewing) with her cats.