In our lab, we take our cues from evolutionary biology, with an emphasis on understanding how viruses have driven evolution of host genes, and at the same time, asking how our molecular defenses influence evolution of the viruses that surround and infect us. By taking this perspective, we can identify specific molecular interactions that have been fine tuned by millions of years of virus-host co-evolution, using nature as our guide to better understand viruses and the molecular mechanisms of infectious disease.