Suzette Priola

Key facts

• The NIH Intramural Research Program profile lists her as Senior Investigator, TSE/Prion Molecular Biology Section, NIAID Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Montana.
• PhD in microbiology and immunology from UCLA in 1990; joined Rocky Mountain Laboratories in 1991.
• Former chair of the FDA TSE Advisory Committee and a member of the Virology editorial board.
• A secondary source also lists her as Deputy Chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, citing a 2022 NIAID profile.
• Her lab studies conversion of normal PrP to the protease resistant form, species barriers, amyloid formation, the course of infection and vaccine development.
• Early work with Raymond, Chesebro and Caughey built the 1995 cell free conversion model of the scrapie species barrier, and a 1997 EMBO J paper with Aguzzi showed astrocyte only PrP expression can support prion disease in mice.
• A 2009 J Virol paper found that cells making anchorless PrP resist scrapie infection, and a 2009 review covered the role of the PrP membrane anchor in infection.
• A 2014 study showed human astrocytes take up and break down human prion aggregates, and a 2017 paper reported normal PrP inside mitochondria of healthy mice.
• A 2024 PLoS One paper found the PINK1/Parkin mitophagy pathway protective in prion disease, and a September 2026 J Cell Sci paper reported that early prion exposure disturbs mitochondrial respiration in a strain dependent way.
• Two 2025 JBC papers with Daniel Shoup reported that chaperones can release seeding competent prion particles in a strain specific way and that infectious prions do not readily fall apart into small oligomers.
• Co-author of an August 2026 Acta Neuropathologica study with Indiana University and Verona groups comparing prion protein in brain and retina in GSS with the PRNP F198S mutation.
• Senior author of a 2025 Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews article with Caughey, Orru and Hughson on prions and protein aggregates as pathogens, biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
• Papers list NIAID Division of Intramural Research funding, including intramural project AI000752-27; she is not listed among CJD Foundation grant recipients, though other RML scientists are (organoid and fibril imaging projects).
• In a March 2026 local tribute she described Caughey as a fantastic mentor and said they collaborated for 35 years and shared an office for 10.

Timeline

1. 1990PhD in microbiology and immunology, UCLA.
2. 1991Joins Rocky Mountain Laboratories as a postdoctoral scientist with Bruce Chesebro.
3. 1995Co-author of the PNAS cell free conversion model of the scrapie species barrier.
4. 2009J Virol paper: cells expressing anchorless PrP resist scrapie infection.
5. 2014Am J Pathol paper on human astrocytes degrading human prion aggregates.
6. 2024PINK1/Parkin mitophagy paper (PLoS One).
7. 2024Chaperone disaggregation paper (JBC, issue 2025).
8. 2025MMBR review on prions and protein aggregates with Caughey and colleagues.
9. 2026Quoted in the Bitterroot Star tribute to Byron Caughey.
10. 2026J Gen Virol paper on CWD prion strain properties.
11. 2026Acta Neuropathologica paper on PRNP F198S GSS in brain and retina.
12. 2026J Cell Sci paper on strain dependent mitochondrial changes.