Autumn Holmes is examining how chikungunya virus, which causes debilitating, often chronic arthritis in humans, enters cells and begins the infection process in mice. Like dengue and Zika viruses, chikungunya is transmitted through a mosquito species that, due to climate change and other factors, will likely be found in more parts of the world over the next several decades. Holmes hopes to understand how certain infected cells affect the progression of chikungunya disease and how the virus operates in the early stages of infection.