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| Mohamed Shehata Draz, MSc, PhD |
Mohamed Shehata Draz, MSc, PhD, a research fellow in the Division of Engineering in Medicine in the Shafiee Laboratory, received a Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Developmental Award to support his project entitled "Engineered magnetic nanoparticles to eliminate the latent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 reservoir."
Antitretroviral therapy (ART) has been highly effective in reducing mortality in HIV-infected individuals and can reduce HIV transmission by up to 96 percent among people in HIV serodiscordant relationships. Although ART stops ongoing viral replication by blocking the infection of susceptible cells, ART cannot eradicate HIV, as it cannot identify nor eliminate the resting memory CD4+ T cell reservoirs that harbor an integrated HIV genome but do not produce viral proteins.
The CFAR Developmental Award will enable Draz to test bioengineered magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to target, identify and eliminate the HIV-1 reservoir. MNPs are specifically designed to interact and cluster in the presence of HIV. This activity will enable the identification and separation of infected cells using magnetic field. It can be adapted to generate magnetic hyperthermia and directly destroy HIV reservoir cells in vivo. The outcomes of this proposal would allow the development of a practical, revolutionary solution to HIV eradication that can be tested in humans.
The Harvard University Center for AIDS Research provides research, education and training opportunities to its members and its affiliates, with the goals of supporting multidisciplinary collaboration among HIV/AIDS researchers, promoting innovative research in this area and engaging the next generation of scientists in HIV/AIDS research.
