Ploss Lab
Principal Investigator: Alexander Ploss
Institution: Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
Primary Subfield: Immunology
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project summary Coinfection with HBV and HIV-1 is common, and HIV coinfection can exacerbate progression of viral hepatitis and accelerate liver disease progression. In fact, endstage liver diseases, including fiboris/cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, have become the most common causes of death in people living with HIV (PWH) worldwide. HIV infection cannot be cured currently but can be efficiently suppressed with highly active or combination anti-retroviral therapy (HAART or cART). Currently available HBV drugs can suppress viral replication, but only a small subset of patients are cured by these treatments. Although a prophylactic vaccine is available for HBV, it has no therapeutic benefit. Consequently, new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed to combat chronic HBV infection, particularly in the context of HIV coinfection. Here, we will capitalize on several technical and conceptual breakthroughs from our lab to establish proof-of-concept for interfering with persistent HBV infection virologically. We have recently made important discoveries that provide a strong foundation for the major direction of this proposal. The Ploss lab identified key components of the DNA l…
Active NIH Awards
- 3R01AI107301-13S1: Genetic Viral and Host Adaptations to Breach Species Barriers of HCV (2026)
- 5R01AI107301-13: Genetic Viral and Host Adaptations to Breach Species Barriers of HCV (2026)
- 4U19AI171401-02: Identification and characterization of small molecule inhibitors of yellow fever (2026)
- 4R01AI181664-02: Targeting hepatitis B virus cccDNA during HBV/HIV co-infection (2025)
- 5R01AI107301-12: Genetic Viral and Host Adaptations to Breach Species Barriers of HCV (2025)
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