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Research Labs: Cecilia Cheng-Mayer, Ph.D.
The main research efforts of the Cheng-Mayer laboratory are aimed at advancing our understanding of the mechanisms of HIV transmission and pathogenesis. Infection of non-human primates (NHP) with simian immunodeficiency viruses carrying the envelope glycoproteins of HIV-1 reproduces many features of HIV-1 infection in humans. Using this animal model, we sort to determine whether certain virus variants are more transmissible or are better at causing disease in the hosts. The ways in which the virus evolves from a less pathogenic towards more pathogenic variants, as well as the specific immune responses (antibodies, CD4+ or CD8+ T cell responses, or combination of these) that protect macaques from infection or disease development are also being studied. The latter will provide vital clues to the type of responses that would be required to protect against HIV infection in humans. Lastly, the increasing feminization of the AIDS pandemic brings into focus the need to expand the range of interventions, such as topical microbicides that can be controlled by women. We are actively engaged, using the macaque model, in identifying safe and efficacious microbicide products that could be advanced for clinical testing in humans.
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