Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Training & Education

Dr. Thali received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Zürich, Switzerland in 1990. He did postdoctoral research with Joseph Sodroski at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School and he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Lausanne before he joined the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics late in 1999. 

Research Interests

Overall, my group is interested in understanding how information (genetic, biochemical) can be transmitted from cell to cell and how such information flow determines the fate of cells, tissues, and ultimately organisms. Recently, we have become particularly interested in the phenomenon that merging of cells (i.e. cell-cell fusion) can result in altered cell states.

The main object of our studies is the retrovirus HIV-1, though we also support investigations by colleagues who study other viruses or extracellular vesicles that serve as information carriers. Importantly, in all our projects we collaborate more or less extensively with other scientists, both on campus and at other institutions, thus forming transient alliances to tackle emerging questions. For example, together with Dr. Elizabeth Bonney at UVM’s OBGYN and Reproductive Sciences department, we are currently studying how tetraspanins control trophoblast fusion, thus securing normal placenta development during pregnancy. 

While we use various virological and cell biological techniques for our investigations, particular emphasis is being placed on applying quantitative imaging methods. These include restoration fluorescence microscopy and super resolution microscopy for analyses of subcellular events and light sheet microscopy for analyses at the cell population level (with single cell resolution). Using such methods, we recently found that HIV-induced small T lymphocyte syncytia are a subpopulation of infected cells that have distinct surface protein profiles as well as migratory properties that distinguish them from infected mononucleated T cells. A major thrust of our current work thus aims at understanding what role this subpopulation of HIV-1-infected cells plays in virus spread.