8 min read
April Fellow's Spotlight on Dr. Vivien Maltez
Our April Fellow's Spotlight goes to Dr. Vivien Maltez, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Allergy,...
Throughout the years, Dr. Almodovar has investigated Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its involvement in pulmonary vascular diseases like Pulmonary Hypertension. Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is a long-term complication of HIV infection and is a cause of mortality unrelated to AIDS. What in HIV causes or contributes to PH was –and still remains- largely unknown. As a postdoctoral fellow in Colorado, Dr. Almodovar contributed her experience in molecular virology and bioinformatics to uncover specific HIV Nef polymorphisms associated with the pulmonary hypertensive phenotype in HIV-infected individuals. In addition, her work helped to confirm the utility of SHIVnef-infected macaques as suitable models of HIV-associated pulmonary vascular remodeling, as the pathogenetic changes they observed are concordant with features of several forms of PH including idiopathic, familial, scleroderma-induced, and HIV-associated PH. Her research group then moved on to now investigate the role of CXCR4-utilizing HIV (X4 viruses) in pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary vascular disease, as well as using humanized mice as the next step to continue mechanistic studies here at TTUHSC.
Research Area(s):
Infectious DiseaseResearch Keywords:
Mentor: Gary J. Nabel, MD, PhD
Apr 23, 2025 by Shannon Weiman
Our April Fellow's Spotlight goes to Dr. Vivien Maltez, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Allergy,...
Apr 22, 2025 by Shannon Weiman
Keystone Symposia was founded on the idea of bringing academic and industry scientists together to accelerate...