Konstantin Kousoulas

Dr. Konstantin “Gus” Kousoulas received his BS in Physics from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ, and his MS and PhD degrees from Pennsylvania State University in Biophysics and Molecular Cell Biology, respectively. He received postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago working in Dr. Bernard Roizman’s laboratory and at the University of California at San Francisco with Dr. Lenore Pereira, where later he was promoted to Research Assistant Professor.

He joined Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and became full professor in 1994. He is currently Professor of Virology and Biotechnology at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and Director of the Division of Biotechnology & Molecular Medicine with adjunct appointments at the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Basic Sciences at LSU Baton Rouge, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and the LSU Health Sciences Center’s Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center in New Orleans. Dr. Kousoulas has substantial expertise in animal models of viral and bacterial infections including non-human primates.

Currently, he serves as the NIH National Scientific Advisory Board (NSAB) of the Southwest National Primate Research Center and has previously served as Chair of the NSAB of the Tulane National Primate Research Center. His primary research interests are focused on the molecular biology and immunopathogenesis of human herpes viruses. He has extensively utilized herpes simplex viral vectors for vaccine development and cancer treatment. He has constructed and patented herpes simplex viruses that have been shown to be highly efficacious as preventative and therapeutic vaccines for herpes genital and ocular infections and as potent adjuvants for cancer immunotherapy approaches in animal models. Other research interests include computational approaches to protein structure and function, the use of virus-like particles for drug delivery, and the utilization and development of bioinformatics and advanced diagnostic solutions for infectious diseases and cancer.