Research Focus
Focusing on the interplay between host factors and viruses
The research in my laboratory mainly focuses on the interplay between host factors and two prime human threats – the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the hepatitis C virus (HCV). More than 33 million people are living with HIV and approximately 2.5 million people are newly infected per year. An estimated 170 million people worldwide are chronically infected with HCV and more than 350,000 people die from HCV-related liver diseases each year. In the absence of vaccine for both HIV and HCV, there is an urgent need to develop new antiviral therapies to treat people, who are already infected, or to develop new approaches to interrupt viral transmission. A main goal in our laboratory is to identify host factors critical for HIV or HCV replication and to exploit them as targets for the development of novel antiviral therapies.
Education
Ph.D., University of Lausanne, 1993
Professional Experience
1997-2024 Professor of Immunology and Microbial Science, Immunology and Microbial Science (IMS), Scripps Research