12:00noon Monday 12th August
Room 208, 2nd floor,
Microbiology building,
720 Cumberland Street
'HIV: From chimps to humans and beyond...'
Speaker: Prof. Eric J. Arts – Western University, London / Canada
For nearly 20 years our laboratory has explored the pathogenesis and evolution of HIV in humans after zoonotic jump(s) from chimpanzees. In this seminar we explore how SIV from only one sub-species of chimps and of gorillas were well adapted for this zoonosis in humans, could overcome human restriction factors, and then evolved into multiple HIV-1 subtypes in the Congo basin. With differential founder events and with different levels of virulence and transmissions, HIV-1 subtypes have unevenly across the world leading to challenges in treatment strategies and vaccine design and efficacy. Are we addressing these problems and is there a way out?
