HIV

Zhongguo Xiong

Associate Professor, Plant Sciences
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 621-9869

Research Interest

Zhongguo Xiong, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona, and a faculty member in the Undergraduate Program of Microbiology. Dr. Xiong is a 2012 winner of the Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations in Global Health, and has more than 20 years of research experience on RNA viruses of important crops and native plant species. Dr. Xiong research encompasses a wide range of subjects that include virus diversity, recombination, RNAi suppression, host resistance and resistance-breaking, replication and movement of RNA viruses, and how all these are related to the control and management of viral diseases. He was one of the first researchers to discover ribosomal frameshifting as a gene expression mechanism in plant RNA viruses and to demonstrate recombination between transgene mRNA and genomic RNA of an infecting virus. His recent research on Citrus tristeza virus has revealed its genome stability, unusual for an RNA virus, and the promiscuous recombination between viral strains as the major factor driving Citrus tristeza virus evolution. His recent collaboration with Dr. Martha Hawes has led to the discovery that extracellular DNA, secreted DNases, and proteins are important immunity and pathogenicity factors in the plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. Dr. Xiong has strong ongoing international collaborations on emerging viral diseases of tomato, pepper, papaya, and banana. His recent research interests include genome editing to engineer immunity against viral infection and using the next generation sequencing to explore viral population genomics and genetic diversity and to discover new viruses and novel viral strains.

Michael Worobey

Department Head, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Professor, Genetics - GIDP
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 626-3456

Research Interest

Michael Worobey, PhD, uses the genomes of viruses to trace the evolution of major communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and influenza. He employs an evolutionary approach to understand the origins, emergence and control of pathogens, in particular RNA viruses and retroviruses such as HIV and influenza virus. The research program integrates fieldwork, theory and methodology, molecular biology, and molecular evolutionary analysis of gene sequences in a phylogenetic framework.Current wet-lab projects in Dr. Worobey’s Biosafety Level 3 facility involve recovery of damaged and/or ancient DNA from a variety of sources including paraffin-embedded human tissue specimens, blood smears, and museum specimens. The two main efforts are: 1) reconstructing the emergence of HIV-1 group M in central Africa and North America using fossil HIV-1 sequences, and 2) investigating the evolution of AIDS-related viruses in wild-living African primates using non-invasively-collected samples.

Chengcheng Hu

Director, Biostatistics - Phoenix Campus
Professor, Public Health
Professor, Statistics-GIDP
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-9308

Work Summary

Chengcheng Hu has worked on a broad range of areas including cancer, occupational health, HIV/AIDS, and aging. He has extensive collaborative research in conducting methodological research in the areas of survival analysis, longitudinal data, high-dimensional data, and measurement error. His current methodological interest, arising from studies of viral and human genetics and biomarkers, is to develop innovative methods to investigate the relationship between high-dimensional information and longitudinal outcomes or survival endpoints.

Research Interest

Chengcheng Hu, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor, Public Health and Director, Biostatistics, Phoenix campus at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona. He is also Director of the Biometry Core on the Chemoprevention of Skin Cancer Project at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Hu has worked on multiple federal grants in a broad range of areas including cancer, occupational health, HIV/AIDS, and aging. In addition to extensive experience in collaborative research, he has conducted methodological research in the areas of survival analysis, longitudinal data, high-dimensional data, and measurement error. His current methodological interest, arising from studies of viral and human genetics and biomarkers, is to develop innovative methods to investigate the relationship between high-dimensional information and longitudinal outcomes or survival endpoints. Hu joined the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health in 2008. Prior to this he was an assistant professor of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health from 2002 to 2008. While at Harvard, he also served as senior statistician in the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG) and the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group (IMPAACT). Hu received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Biostatistics from the University of Washington and a M.A. in Mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University.

Elizabeth Connick

Professor, Medicine
Division Chief, Infectious Disease
Professor, Immunobiology
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-6887

Work Summary

Dr. Connick is a physician scientist who has dedicated her career to the improvement of health of individuals living with or at risk for HIV-1 infection. Her research ranges from laboratory based investigations of HIV-1 immunopathogenesis to clinical and epidemiological studies of novel immunotherapies and other interventions to improve health outcomes in people living with HIV-1.

Research Interest

Elizabeth Connick, M.D.'s laboratory focuses on the immunopathogenesis of HIV infection, particularly strategies employed by the virus to evade cellular immunity. Because most HIV replication occurs in secondary lymphoid tissues, much of her work has been focused on understanding the biology of HIV replication within lymphoid tissues and unique features of the host immune response at those sites. Other areas of interest include investigation of sex differences in HIV-1 infection as well as factors that promote accelerated cardiovascular disease in HIV-infected individuals.

Nafees Ahmad

Professor, Immunobiology
Professor, Applied BioSciences - GIDP
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-7022

Research Interest

Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D., Professor of ImmunobiologyResearch Interests:1. Molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 vertical transmission2. Molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 pathogenesis in infants and children 3. Molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 infection in immature and mature mononuclear cells4. Identification and characterization of cellular factors involved in HIV-1 replication in immature and mature mononuclear cells5. Biological activity of anti-HIV compoundsThe main focus of my laboratory is understanding the molecular mechanisms of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mother-to-infant transmission and pathogenesis of pediatric AIDS (HIV-1 infection in children). Areas of investigation include: Molecular and biological characterization of HIV-1 isolates involved in maternal-fetal transmission; Genetic variability of HIV-1 following mother-to-infant transmission; Viral determinants, including viral heterogeneity, functional conservation/divergence of various HIV-1 genes, presence/absence of motifs in HIV-1 genes, replication efficiency, cell tropism, and cytopathic effects associated with HIV-1 maternal-fetal transmission; Viral and host factors associated with HIV-1 evolution, replication, pathogenesis and disease progression in infected infants and children; Molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 infection in immature and mature mononuclear cells; Kinetics of HIV-1 replication in immature hosts (infants) primary lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages; Mechanisms of HIV-1 infection in immature and mature mononuclear cells, including entry and post-entry events, HIV-1 gene expression and T-cell development, Biological activity of anti-HIV compounds in tissue culture system of T-cell lines, primary lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages and receptor/coreceptor cell lines, Characterization of cellular factors in immature and mature mononuclear cells that may influence HIV replication differentially.