HIV encodes a protein that forms a conical shell, called a capsid, that surrounds its genome. The capsid has been shown to protect the viral genome from innate immune sensors in the cell, to help transport the genome towards and into the nucleus, to keep the components of reverse transcription together for conversion of the […]

Our lab relies on NIH funding for our research. NIH funding creates jobs, medicines, and economic growth. The third highest disease-related cause of death in Pennsylvania is COVID-19. In addition to HIV research, our lab studies SARS-CoV-2 biology with the ultimate goal of finding better treatments for COVID-19 and future coronavirus infections.

Both Chandra and Zac traveled to Palm Springs, CA for the 28th West Coast Retrovirus Meeting in October. Chandra spoke about his work on comparing different humanized mouse models for our HIV-1 studies on novel ART and PrEP. His talk was entitled “Development of humanized mouse models without fetal tissues for HIV-1 mucosal transmission and […]

Jessica recently was awarded a NIH F31 fellowship grant entitled “HIV/Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-infection: cellular dynamics in granulomas.” This will fund the rest of her PhD studies as well as the rest of her medical school education. Jessica is using spatial transcriptomics and immunofluorescence imaging of granulomas to understand how HIV alters host immune responses to […]

We are so proud of Alex for successfully defending her MPH thesis in the Pitt School of Public Health today! She did a fantastic job and we can’t wait to see all the great things she does when she joins PMI in the fall!

UPDATE: THIS POSITION WAS FILLED. The Ambrose Lab is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join our team to understand how SARS-CoV-2 replicates in cells. Apply online at https://www.join.pitt.edu/find-positions, Job #24001352.

Join us in Palm Springs in October for the 28th West Coast Retroviruses Meeting. Visit the website for more details!

Meriem recently attended the 2023 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) conference in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. She presented a poster entitled, “Characterizing New Humanized Mouse Models for Investigating HIV-1 Infection,” which was based on experiments she completed with Chandra this semester. Not only did Meriem receive a travel grant to attend ABRCMS, she […]

The Pitt Biomedical Graduate Student Association (BGSA) Symposium was held on November 1st at the new Assembly Building. Zac’s abstract was one of the 6 that were invited for an oral presentation out of approximately 120 abstracts! He gave a nice talk (“HIV-1 nuclear entry requires spatiotemporal binding of cyclophilin A and CPSF6 to capsid”), […]