HIV Pathogenesis NIH Training Program

Tufts University
Honorine Ward, M.D., Principal Investigator

Honorine Ward, MD, is the Principal Investigator of the NIH HIV Pathogenesis Training program for MD and PhD postdoctoral fellows (AI-07389). She has extensive experience mentoring junior faculty members in the pathogenesis of HIV and its complications, and metabolic disorders associated with HIV and HIV therapy.

This training program provides physicians and Ph.D. scientists with advanced training in HIV/AIDS research. Trainees may elect to focus on clinical research or basic bench research. The program design provides structured training, including basic science and biostatistics courses, conferences, manuscript and grant writing activity and experience in dealing with ethical issues in research and human experimentation in such manner as most effectively will complement supervised research in the laboratory of an accomplished faculty mentor. The program is also organized to insure that all trainees, whether M.D.s or Ph.D.s, will learn not only the scientific, but also the compelling human issues of HIV/AIDS and how to address them so that research priorities can best reflect clinical needs and opportunities. Faculty interests include basic issues in HIV replication and virus growth regulation, immunology and immunotherapy, molecular mechanisms in opportunistic infections, and pathogenesis of HIV and its complications. Training opportunities have been expanded to include areas of the metabolic disorders associated with HIV and HIV therapy, the biology of HIV-associated neurologic diseases, and studies of pharmacologic aspects attendant to HIV-related therapeutics.