Research in the Karijolich laboratory is focused on understanding host-virus interactions in the context of gammaherpesvirus infection. Gammaherpesviruses, which include the human oncogenic viruses Kaposi Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein Barr virus (EBV), are a family of large double-stranded DNA lymphotrophic viruses that are the causative agents of a variety of disorders, including lymphoproliferative diseases, lymphomas, as well as other nonlymphoid cancers in mammals. Studies of the host response to viral infection have historically focused on protein-coding genes, thus our understanding of how the non-protein-coding transcriptome, including both viral- and host-derived noncoding RNAs, impacts host-virus interactions is limited. Along this line, our primary research goals are directed towards understanding how noncoding RNAs and their RNA-binding proteins are integrated in to the regulation of gene expression and modulation of the host immune response during gammaherpesvirus infection.