Gregory A. Storch, M.D.

Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics; Co-director Clinical Retrovirus Lab; Director Division of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine; Director Clinical Virology Lab; Director Division of Infectious Diseases; Director Bacteriology Laboratory; Director Molecular Virology Laboratory

Dr. Storch's investigative activities involve the rapid diagnosis of infections. The infectious agents of choice are those for which existing methods are inadequate, either because the agent cannot be cultivated or because current diagnostic methods are too slow or insufficiently sensitive. The emphasis is on viral and other unconventional agents and on infections at body sites such as the central nervous system, the eye and the developing fetus, for which PCR is well suited because of its sensitivity and small specimen volume requirement.

Dr. Storch's approach is to develop PCR assays for several infectious agents that produce related clinical syndromes in a specific patient population and to use those PCR assays as panels to define the spectrum of disease attributable to each of the agents. PCR assays that have been developed to date include assays for all human herpes viruses, parvovirus B19, JC and BK viruses, HIV, enteroviruses, Ehrlichia spp, Rickettsia rickettsiae, Bartonella species, Bordetella pertussis, and Toxoplasma gondii. Areas of ongoing or future development include assays for respiratory viruses and studies employing quantitative and real-time PCR.

These assays have been or will be used to investigate the following clinical syndromes: central nervous system infection in patients with AIDS (CMV, EBV, JC virus, T. gondii), systemic infection in solid organ transplant recipients (CMV, EBV, HHV-6), central nervous system infections in normal individuals (HSV, VZV, EBV, enterovirus), retinitis in immunocompromised patients (CMV, VZV, HSV), congenital infection (Parvovirus B19, T. gondii, CMV), and tick-borne infections (Ehrlichia and Rickettsia). In each case, appropriate collaborations are in place or will be established with clinicians caring for the relevant patient group, and comparison will be made to diagnostic testing using conventional methods, carried out in the St. Louis Children's Hospital Diagnostic Microbiology Laboratory.

Gregory A. Storch, M.D.

Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics; Co-director Clinical Retrovirus Lab; Director Division of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine; Director Clinical Virology Lab; Director Division of Infectious Diseases; Director Bacteriology Laboratory; Director Molecular Virology Laboratory

Dr. Storch's investigative activities involve the rapid diagnosis of infections. The infectious agents of choice are those for which existing methods are inadequate, either because the agent cannot be cultivated or because current diagnostic methods are too slow or insufficiently sensitive. The emphasis is on viral and other unconventional agents and on infections at body sites such as the central nervous system, the eye and the developing fetus, for which PCR is well suited because of its sensitivity and small specimen volume requirement.

Dr. Storch's approach is to develop PCR assays for several infectious agents that produce related clinical syndromes in a specific patient population and to use those PCR assays as panels to define the spectrum of disease attributable to each of the agents. PCR assays that have been developed to date include assays for all human herpes viruses, parvovirus B19, JC and BK viruses, HIV, enteroviruses, Ehrlichia spp, Rickettsia rickettsiae, Bartonella species, Bordetella pertussis, and Toxoplasma gondii. Areas of ongoing or future development include assays for respiratory viruses and studies employing quantitative and real-time PCR.

These assays have been or will be used to investigate the following clinical syndromes: central nervous system infection in patients with AIDS (CMV, EBV, JC virus, T. gondii), systemic infection in solid organ transplant recipients (CMV, EBV, HHV-6), central nervous system infections in normal individuals (HSV, VZV, EBV, enterovirus), retinitis in immunocompromised patients (CMV, VZV, HSV), congenital infection (Parvovirus B19, T. gondii, CMV), and tick-borne infections (Ehrlichia and Rickettsia). In each case, appropriate collaborations are in place or will be established with clinicians caring for the relevant patient group, and comparison will be made to diagnostic testing using conventional methods, carried out in the St. Louis Children's Hospital Diagnostic Microbiology Laboratory.