Office Address
801 16th Ave NE
Austin, MN 55912
United States
Lab Address
United States
Susan
Hafenstein
Director of CRYO: Hormel Institute
Biochemistry Molecular Biology and Biophysics
Dr. Hafenstein, PhD, joined The Hormel Institute as the cryoEM Director in 2023. Her research focuses on understanding the structure and functions of viruses, specifically host-virus interactions that facilitate viral entry into cells. She is an expert in cryoEM, utilizing local reconstruction approaches to solve atomic resolution maps of viruses like HPV, murine papillomavirus, polyomavirus and Zika virus.
Selected publications
Patel DR, Minns AM, Sim DG, Field CJ, Kerr AE, Heinly TA, Luley EH, Rossi RM, Bator CM, Moustafa IM, Norton EB, Hafenstein SL, Lindner SE, Sutton TC. Intranasal SARS-CoV-2 RBD decorated nanoparticle vaccine enhances viral clearance in the Syrian hamster model. Microbiol Spectr. 2024 Mar 5;12(3):e0499822. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.04998-22. Epub 2024 Feb 9. PMID: 38334387; PMCID: PMC10923206.
Charnesky AJ, Faust JE, Lee H, Puligedda RD, Goetschius DJ, DiNunno NM, Thapa V, Bator CM, Cho SHJ, Wahid R, Mahmood K, Dessain S, Chumakov KM, Rosenfeld A, Hafenstein SL. A human monoclonal antibody binds within the poliovirus receptor-binding site to neutralize all three serotypes. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 10;14(1):6335. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41052-9. PMID: 37816742; PMCID: PMC10564760.
Hartmann SR, Charnesky AJ, Früh SP, López-Astacio RA, Weichert WS, DiNunno N, Cho SH, Bator CM, Parrish CR, Hafenstein SL. Cryo EM structures map a post vaccination polyclonal antibody response to canine parvovirus. Commun Biol. 2023 Sep 19;6(1):955. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05319-7. PMID: 37726539; PMCID: PMC10509169.
López-Astacio RA, Adu OF, Lee H, Hafenstein SL, Parrish CR. The Structures and Functions of Parvovirus Capsids and Missing Pieces: the Viral DNA and Its Packaging, Asymmetrical Features, Nonprotein Components, and Receptor or Antibody Binding and Interactions. J Virol. 2023 Jul 27;97(7):e0016123. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00161-23. Epub 2023 Jun 27. PMID: 37367301; PMCID: PMC10373561.
López-Astacio RA, Adu OF, Goetschius DJ, Lee H, Weichert WS, Wasik BR, Frueh SP, Alford BK, Voorhees IEH, Flint JF, Saddoris S, Goodman LB, Holmes EC, Hafenstein SL, Parrish CR. Viral Capsid, Antibody, and Receptor Interactions: Experimental Analysis of the Antibody Escape Evolution of Canine Parvovirus. J Virol. 2023 Jun 29;97(6):e0009023. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00090-23. Epub 2023 May 18. PMID: 37199627; PMCID: PMC10308881.