A woman stands indoors in front of large wooden fermentation barrels, speaking into a small handheld microphone. One hand rests on her hip while she looks slightly to the side. A banner for the Center for Communicating Science is behind her, and the space looks like a brewery or winery.
Hannah Brown, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, explains hepatitis E virus infection and the use of lab-grown mini organs that mimic brain tissue to study its neurological effects. Photo by Bria Weisz for Virginia Tech.

A virus is simply a molecule of nucleic acid inside a protein coat. Unless they’re inside a living cell, they are unable to multiply. How do virologists, the scientists who study them, grow them in the lab when these microscopic infectious agents depend entirely on living cells? This is a question that blends curiosity with cutting-edge science, and it shapes Hannah Brown’s research. At the February Science on Tap, she guided the audience through the hidden world of viruses and the innovative methods scientists use to study them.

A woman sits smiling in front of a tri-fold poster titled “Growing Mini Organs to Study Picky Viruses.” She is wearing a red long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans, with a small microphone clipped to her top. The poster shows drawings and notes about lab grown mini organs and viruses.
Brown created a trifold poster for explaining her research to a fifth grade audience, which turns out to be useful for others, too. The poster highlights hepatitis E virus and the use of lab-grown mini organs for modeling virus replication. Photo by Bria Weisz for Virginia Tech.

    Brown is a postdoctoral researcher at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech, and her path to virology was anything but straightforward. She once aspired to become a veterinarian. However, when she was just 15, she witnessed a dog being put down and realized that path was not for her. Still drawn to animal health and biology, she found herself increasingly interested in microbiology and eventually discovered her place in laboratory research. Fascinated by how such tiny organisms can cause significant disease, she pursued a Ph.D. in virology, focusing on hepatitis E virus, a foodborne pathogen that connects human and animal health.

     In her talk, Brown introduced the audience to hepatitis E, a zoonotic virus that spreads from animals to humans. Pigs act as a reservoir, while humans are typically infected through consumption of undercooked pork products, such as sausages. One intriguing feature of this virus is its dual nature: It exists in both enveloped (with an outer layer) and non-enveloped (without an outer layer) forms. While the virus primarily targets the liver, causing symptoms like fatigue, jaundice, and inflammation, about 10 percent of infected individuals may also experience neurological effects. How hepatitis E affects the brain remains a key question driving Brown’s current research.

A person hands a container of small chits to a seated group at a wooden table. One individual reaches out to receive it while others watch, with drinks and papers visible on the table. A barrel in the background adds to the rustic, indoor setting.
Science on Tap volunteers distribute papers assigning different health conditions to the audience. Photo by Bria Weisz for Virginia Tech.

    To study these effects, she told the audience, she uses lab-grown mini organs called organoids—three-dimensional clusters of human cells grown in the lab. Organoids mimic real organs and behave more like actual human tissues than traditional cell cultures. Unlike older methods relying on tumor-derived cell lines, which do not fully replicate normal cell behavior, organoids provide a more realistic model. They offer a promising alternative by bridging the gap between traditional lab models and the complexity of the human body. Brown uses brain organoids to explore how hepatitis E may infect and affect the nervous system.

    Brown made the session interactive by engaging the audience in a hands-on activity. Participants were assigned different health conditions: pregnancy, immunocompromised status, chronic liver disease, occupational exposure to pigs, or being a healthy adult. They then learned about their relative risk of infection. Pregnant individuals, immunocompromised people, and those with liver disease are at higher risk, while individuals with occupational exposure to pigs, such as veterinarians and hog farmers, show higher levels of hepatitis E antibodies, tiny proteins produced by the immune system to fight infection. About 40 percent of these individuals have detectable antibodies, compared to roughly 10 percent of the general population. Many infected humans  and even infected pigs may show no symptoms at all.

A group of people sit at long wooden tables inside a warmly lit indoor space with string lights and large windows. Several individuals have their hands raised, suggesting participation in a group activity. The atmosphere feels lively and social, with people eating, drinking, and interacting.
Audience members participate in the health conditions activity by raising their hands to indicate the health conditions they were assigned and learned about the impact of hepatitis E on each condition. Photo by Bria Weisz for Virginia Tech.

    The audience asked thoughtful questions about vaccines, viral entry mechanisms, and organoid research. Brown noted that while a hepatitis E vaccine exists in China, it is not currently available in the United States, and researchers have yet to identify the receptors the virus uses to enter cells.

A person holds an informational flyer about Hepatitis E Virus while also holding a small card labeled “PREGNANT,” highlighting a key take-home message from the talk.
A handout created by Brown provides the audience with key take-home information on hepatitis E and lab-grown mini organs. Photo by Bria Weisz for Virginia Tech.

    At the end of her presentation, Brown,  who works with the National Science Foundation's COMPASS Center (Center for COMmunity Empowering Pandemic Prediction and Prevention from Atoms to SocietieS), engaged the crowd with a few questions from her talk. Attendees left both entertained and informed, gaining knowledge about this foodborne virus, strategies for protection, and the latest research in the field. Brown also highlighted the collaborative spirit in scientific research and expressed hope that future vaccines could prevent infection and protect global health.

    Thank you to Hannah Brown for sharing her story and to Rising Silo Brewery for hosting! Science on Tap is a monthly event sponsored and supported by the Center for Communicating Science and by Virginia Tech's chapter of Sigma Xi. Come out to our next event at 5:30 p.m. on April 23, 2026, for a talk about climate change research in Southwest Virginia. 

By Sai Navya Vadlamudi, Center for Communicating Science graduate assistant