# Craig E. Cameron

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**Craig E. Cameron** is the chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at the [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill). He is a Fellow of the [American Association for the Advancement of Science](/source/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science) and [American Society for Microbiology](/source/American_Society_for_Microbiology).

## Early life and education

Cameron had planned to study medicine at university, but after volunteering in hospitals he realised that he did not want to become a medical doctor.[1] He studied chemistry at [Howard University](/source/Howard_University) and graduated in 1987. During his undergraduate research he noticed that physicians were not ready to deal with viruses. The viruses that Cameron studied included the [rhinovirus](/source/Rhinovirus), [the common cold](/source/Common_cold) and [coxsackievirus](/source/Coxsackievirus). Cameron moved to [Case Western Reserve University](/source/Case_Western_Reserve_University) for his doctoral studies, which he completed in 1993. He remained at Case Western as a postdoctoral researcher, before being appointed a [National Institutes of Health](/source/National_Institutes_of_Health) fellow at [Pennsylvania State University](/source/Pennsylvania_State_University) (Penn State).[1]

## Research and career

In 1997 Cameron joined the faculty at Penn State.[2] He was awarded a Howard Temin Award and set up a research group working on [poliovirus](/source/Poliovirus) polymerase. He was made the Louis Martarno Associate Professor in 2002. In 2006 Cameron was promoted to the Paul Berg Chair in Biochemistry.[3] Cameron was appointed the Eberly Chair in Biochemistry and [Molecular Biology](/source/Molecular_biology) at Penn State in 2013.

His research considers [RNA virus](/source/RNA_virus) infections. Cameron developed lethal mutagenesis; an alternative mechanism of action of [ribavirin](/source/Ribavirin) that renders genes unable to function. He has pioneered the use of lethal mutagenesis in novel [antiviral drugs](/source/Antiviral_drug). To study the mechanism of action of ribavirin-based antivirals, Cameron developed an analytical assay that could monitor whether ribavirin could incorporate into viral RNA.[4] These experiments revealed that [ribavirin-TP](/source/Ribavirin-TP), which is made of similar building blocks to [RNA](/source/RNA), is incorporated into the viral RNA.[4] He went on to demonstrate that ribavirin works by creating extreme mutation within viruses that forces them into genetic melt down.[4] Working with [Raul Andino](/source/Raul_Andino) and [Shane Crotty](/source/Shane_Crotty), Cameron demonstrated that lethal mutagenesis could be used for safe [poliovirus vaccine](/source/Poliovirus_vaccine). He has also investigated the antiviral properties of [viperin](/source/Viperin), a naturally occurring [enzyme](/source/Enzyme) that is produced in humans and mammals.[5]

Cameron developed a microfluidic device that allowed him to simultaneously monitor thousands of cells infected with viruses.[6] His research group infected cells in the device with a modified form of the [poliovirus](/source/Poliovirus) that produced a [green fluorescent protein](/source/Green_fluorescent_protein).[6] The modified virus fluoresces when it is replicating, allowing researchers to monitor the replication of viruses in thousands of cells at a time.[7] By applying potential antiviral compounds to the poliovirus infected cells, Cameron could screen for drug candidates.[6] One of the antiviral drugs investigated by Cameron (T-1106) causes virus replication to pause and reverse, preventing efficient replication.[8]

In 2010 Cameron was part of a team at Penn State who were awarded a $2.85 million [National Science Foundation](/source/National_Science_Foundation) grant for [K–12](/source/K%E2%80%9312) students.[9] The project, Carbon Educators and Researchers Together for Humanity (CarbonEARTH), was led by [Renee Diehl](/source/Renee_Diehl) and looked to partner Penn State researchers with elementary and middle school children.[9]

Cameron joined the [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill) as chair of the department of microbiology and immunology in 2019.[10] In 2021, Cameron received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study [Coronavirus](/source/Coronavirus) genome replication.[11][12]

## Awards and honours

- 2014 Elected a Fellow of the [American Association for the Advancement of Science](/source/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science)[13][14]
- 2016 Elected a Fellow of the [American Society for Microbiology](/source/American_Society_for_Microbiology)[15]

## Selected publications

- Cameron, Craig E. (2000). "The broad-spectrum antiviral ribonucleoside ribavirin is an RNA virus mutagen". *Nature Medicine*. **6** (12): 1375–1379. [doi:10.1038/82191](https://doi.org/10.1038/82191). [PMID 11100123](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11100123). [S2CID 52870674](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:52870674)
- Cameron, Craig E. (2006). "Quasispecies diversity determines pathogenesis through cooperative interactions in a viral population". *Nature*. **439** (7074): 344–348. [Bibcode:2006Natur.439..344V](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Natur.439..344V). [doi:10.1038/nature04388](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04388). [PMC 1569948](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1569948). [PMID 16327776](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16327776)
- Cameron, Craig E.; Andino, Raul; Crotty, Shane (2001). "RNA virus error catastrophe: Direct molecular test by using ribavirin". *PNAS*. **98** (12): 6895–6900. [Bibcode:2001PNAS...98.6895C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001PNAS...98.6895C). [doi:10.1073/pnas.111085598](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.111085598). [PMC 34449](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC34449). [PMID 11371613](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11371613). [S2CID 8030971](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:8030971)

Cameron is on the editorial board of the *[Journal of Biological Chemistry](/source/Journal_of_Biological_Chemistry)* and *[Journal of Virology](/source/Journal_of_Virology)*.[16]

## References

1. ["Faces of Penn State, 2002: Craig Cameron — Eberly College of Science"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040913055015/https://science.psu.edu/journal/Fall2002/Cameron-FA02.htm). *science.psu.edu*. Archived from [the original](https://science.psu.edu/journal/Fall2002/Cameron-FA02.htm) on 2004-09-13. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Craig Cameron Named to an Endowed Chair at Penn State"](https://www.jbhe.com/2013/03/craig-cameron-named-to-an-endowed-chair-at-penn-state/). *The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education*. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Cameron Appointed Berg Professor of Biochemistry — Eberly College of Science"](http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2006-news/Cameron9-2006.htm). *science.psu.edu*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Antiviral drug works by causing"](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2000-12/HHMI-Adwb-0612100.php). *EurekAlert!*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Compound made inside human body stops viruses from replicating"](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180620150150.htm). *ScienceDaily*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Empowering drug discovery by evaluating antivirals in thousands of single cells"](https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-10/ps-edd102119.php). *EurekAlert!*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["New Device to Test Drugs on Thousands of Individual Living Cells |"](https://www.medgadget.com/2019/11/new-device-to-test-drugs-on-thousands-of-individual-living-cells.html). *Medgadget*. 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Identifying the mechanism for a new class of antiviral drugs could hasten their approval"](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171024141706.htm). *ScienceDaily*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Faculty team awarded $2.85 million NSF grant for K-12 education"](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/ps-fta041510.php). *EurekAlert!*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Cameron named Chair of Department of Microbiology and Immunology — News Room - UNC Health Care"](http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2019/march/cameron-named-chair-of-department-of-microbiology-and-immunology). Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. Mahon, Elise (2022-01-18). ["Cell by Cell"](https://research.unc.edu/story/cell-by-cell/). *UNC Research*. Retrieved 2025-09-28.

1. ["Coronavirus Genome Replication"](https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10235004). *reporter.nih.gov*. 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2025-09-28.

1. ["Eight Penn State researchers named AAAS Fellows | Penn State University"](https://news.psu.edu/story/336088/2014/11/24/research/eight-penn-state-researchers-named-aaas-fellows). *news.psu.edu*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Science Journal June 2015"](https://issuu.com/pennstatescience/docs/science_journal_june_2015/33). *Issuu*. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Craig Cameron named Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology — Penn State University Biochemistry and Molecular Biology"](https://bmb.psu.edu/about/news-articles/craig-cameron-named-fellow-of-the-american-academy-of-microbiology). *bmb.psu.edu*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

1. ["Editorial Board | Journal of Virology"](https://jvi.asm.org/content/board-editors). *jvi.asm.org*. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Craig E. Cameron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_E._Cameron) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_E._Cameron?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.