Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Satya Dandekar is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the School of Medicine, University of California, Davis. She received her Ph.D. degree in Microbiology from M.S. University of Baroda, India and her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. Her research focuses on the mucosal immunology of HIV infection with a specific emphasis on the host-pathogen interactions at the mucosal interface, microbiota, mucosal innate defenses and gut healing. Her studies developed the SIV model of HIV enteropathogenesis and identified the role of gut epithelial damage in early HIV and SIV infections. Current studies apply immunologic and genomic methodologies to investigate the impact of HIV on the gut mucosal immune sensing and response to pathogens and microbiota and to explore novel approaches for the resolution of chronic gut inflammation. Dr. Dandekar has mentored junior researchers and faculty. She has served on the review panels and advisory committees at the NIH and non-federal agencies.
George Lewis, PhD, is the Director, Division of Vaccine Research, The Robert C. Gallo, MD Endowed Professorship in Translational Medicine, and a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr Lewis obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi, in Immunology in the Department of Biology, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSF in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Immunology/Immunochemistry. His and his lab’s research interests are HIV vaccine development, and the structural and functional basis of Fc-mediated effector function.
Alan Engelman, PhD, is Professor of Medicine (Microbiology) at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Cancer Immunology and Virology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Engelman obtained his Ph.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institue of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases. His research focuses on the mechanism of HIV-1 integration.