MD
Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Epidemiology
Director, UNC HIV Cure Center
UNC-Chapel Hill
Virology
Area of Interest
My laboratory has a long history of translational HIV research: investigating basic molecular, virological, and immunological phenomenon, and leveraging insights to develop new interventions in HIV disease. While my work has involved many aspects of HIV science and medicine, for the last two decades a central focus of has been the study of molecular mechanisms of HIV proviral latency and persistence despite potent antiretroviral therapy (ART).
We have begun to define the role of epigenetic factors in the restriction of HIV expression, and this has led to diverse, multidisciplinary collaborations and translational clinical studies resulting in discovery and high-impact work. I am the principal investigator for CARE (Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication), an NIH-funded research organization that seeks to develop the tools to bring an HIV cure from the bench to the clinic. I have been the principal investigator of NIH-funded studies to combine immune therapies and small-molecule anti-latency agent (HDAC inhibitor) in FDA IND studies to attempt to precisely document the depletion of persistent HIV infection.
Finally, I direct the UNC HIV Cure Center, created to support novel and impactful research needed to advance towards therapies to induce an HIV remission. We currently support 8 junior faculty scientists. I have mentored more than 20 post-doctoral fellows, the majority of whom went on to obtain academic positions. I have published more than 160 manuscripts, including 60 with my trainees as first author. The environment of the UNC HIV Cure Center is ideal for training, mentoring, and promoting inclusive and supportive scientific research environments.
Awards and Honors
- Fellow, American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2022
- Member, Association of American Physicians (AAP), 2019
- Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers, 2019, 2020
- Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2018
- Tim Gill Visiting Professor, University of Colorado at Denver, 2013
- M. Glenn Koenig Visiting Professor, Vanderbilt Univ. School of Medicine, 2011
- William J. Way award for HIV medicine, Duke Univ. School of Medicine, 2005
- Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), 2005
- 5th International Workshop on HIV Drug Resistance & Treatment Strategies award, 2001
- Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), 1998
- Infectious Diseases Society of America, Ortho-MacNeil Young Investigator, 1997
- National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Young Investigator, 1996
- Fellow, American College of Physicians (ACP), 1996
- NIH Physician-Scientist (K-11) Award, 1991
- Clinical Associates award, American College of Physicians, 1988
- Magna Cum Laude, Harvard College, 1981
