About

Dr. Swanstrom is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He has studied retroviruses for 30 years and HIV for nearly 20 years. Dr. Swanstrom’s laboratory studies HIV sequence variability as a tool to explore viral pathogenesis. A major effort is directed at understanding the role of the protease and proteolytic processing in the virus life cycle, and assessing the nature of drug resistance to protease inhibitors. Additionally Dr. Swanstrom studies the role of the HIV-1 Env protein in pathogenesis and its use in vaccine development. These studies have led to a more general consideration of the nature of selective pressure on the viral envelope protein and the mechanisms at work generating diversity in the viral genome as a result of that selective pressure. Dr. Swanstrom has extensive administrative experience, including serving as an Editor for the Journal of Virology and a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for NCI in ongoing review of the intramural program. Dr. Swanstrom also has long-standing and well-established collaborations with international scientists participating in HIV/AIDS research internationally.