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Abstract
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that causes acute febrile illness and long-lasting joint and muscle pain. The 2013-2016 CHIKV outbreaks in the Americas is one example of how CHIKV can rapidly spread through areas of CHIKV seronegative individuals and cause widespread severe and debilitating arthritic disease. Since there is no currently available licensed vaccine or antiviral for preventing or treating CHIKV and other alphaviruses, there is urgent need to understand the basic processes of viral replication and viral immunity to develop effective prophylactic and therapeutic treatments. In my dissertation, I describe three different strategies to uncover new aspects of CHIKV biology by testing a small molecule inhibitor, a monoclonal antibody therapy, and a novel T cell vaccine.