Schountz Lab

Dr. Schountz’s lab of the Center for Vector-borne Infectious Diseases (CVID) is interested in understanding immune responses of bats to bat-borne human pathogenic viruses that typically lead to apathogenic infections in the bats. Current areas of interest are H18N11 bat influenza A virus, coronaviruses (MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2), and paramyxoviruses. Most work in the lab focuses on bat-borne viruses using a unique breeding colony of Jamaican fruit bats as an animal model.

Active projects are funded by NIAID to develop a better understanding as to why bats can host such high impact human pathogens that cause no discernible disease in bats. Bats have a number of seemingly unusual immunological features about them, including a robust type I interferon response, little evidence of inflammation, and little evidence of affinity maturation that typically leads to high titered antibody responses. These unusual features have undoubtably shaped the genomes of bat viruses, and it may be that they also contribute to the highly pathogenic nature of bat-borne viruses in humans.

research project

Biology and infection of bats with novel bat influenza viruses

The Schountz lab is researching the effects of H18N11 and PR8 H1N1 IAV provided by Kansas State University. This is done through real- time multiplex PCR, flow cytometry, and assessment of viral loads.

research project

MERS coronavirus: antagonism of double-stranded RNA induced host response by accessory proteins

Bats are the most important reservoirs of coronaviruses, including MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. Dr. Schountz’s lab is interested in understanding how these viruses manipulate bat immune responses to favor infection without causing disease in the bats.

research project

Investigation of Zoonotic Viruses in Bats in the Caribbean

Dr. Schountz is collaborating with colleagues at St. George’s University in Grenada to study viral infections of bats. Samples from bats are tested for a variety of viruses, including influenza viruses, coronaviruses, hantaviruses and flaviviruses.

Publications

Limited cell-autonomous anticancer mechanisms in long-lived bats.
Athar F, Zheng Z, Riquier S, Zacher M, Lu JY, Zhao Y, Volobaev V, Alcock D, Galazyuk A, Cooper LN, Schountz T, Wang LF, Teeling EC, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. Nat Commun. 2025 May 3;16(1):4125. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59403-z. PMID: 40319021

Jamaican fruit bats’ competence for Ebola but not Marburg virus is driven by intrinsic differences.
van Tol S, Port JR, Fischer RJ, Gallogly S, Bushmaker T, Griffin A, Schulz JE, Carmody A, Myers L, Crowley DE, Falvo CA, Riopelle JC, Wickenhagen A, Clancy C, Lovaglio J, Shaia C, Saturday G, Prado-Smith J, He Y, Lack J, Martens C, Anzick SL, Kendall LV, Schountz T, Plowright RK, Marzi A, Munster VJ.Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 25;16(1):2884. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58305-4. PMID: 40133326

Diet-induced changes in metabolism influence immune response and viral shedding in Jamaican fruit bats.
Falvo CA, Crowley DE, Benson E, Hall MN, Schwarz B, Bohrnsen E, Ruiz-Aravena M, Hebner M, Ma W, Schountz T, Rynda-Apple A, Plowright RK. Proc Biol Sci. 2025 Feb;292(2041):20242482. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2482. Epub 2025 Feb 19. PMID: 39968620

Antiviral responses in a Jamaican fruit bat intestinal organoid model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Hashimi M, Sebrell TA, Hedges JF, Snyder D, Lyon KN, Byrum SD, Mackintosh SG, Crowley D, Cherne MD, Skwarchuk D, Robison A, Sidar B, Kunze A, Loveday EK, Taylor MP, Chang CB, Wilking JN, Walk ST, Schountz T, Jutila MA, Bimczok D. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 28;14(1):6882. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42610-x. PMID: 37898615

Regulatory T cell-like response to SARS-CoV-2 in Jamaican fruit bats (Artibeus jamaicensis) transduced with human ACE2.
Burke B, Rocha SM, Zhan S, Eckley M, Reasoner C, Addetia A, Lewis J, Fagre A, Charley PA, Richt JA, Weiss SR, Tjalkens RB, Veesler D, Aboellail T, Schountz T. PLoS Pathog. 2023 Oct 19;19(10):e1011728. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011728. eCollection 2023 Oct. PMID: 37856551

more publications

People

Dr. Tony Schountz headshot.
Tony Schountz, Ph.D.

Lab Principal Investigator (PI)
Associate Professor

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