The main research focus of the Cullen lab is on the post-transcriptional regulation of viral gene expression. This research involves looking at viral and cellular microRNAs and their interactions with mRNAs in infected human cells as well as on the regulation of mRNA function by the covalent modification of individual bases, referred to as epitranscriptomic gene regulation. We also work on the potential application of CRISPR/Cas technology to the treatment of chronic human diseases caused by several different DNA viruses.