Takis Athanasopoulas
Universiy of Wolverhampton, UK
Biography
I am currently serving as a HEFCE funded, Lecturer in Molecular Biotechnology, in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, at the University of Wolverhampton (UoW), UK (www.wlv.ac.uk). I am also acting as a Research Consultant and Academic Visitor for the Gene Therapy Group, School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) (www.rhul.ac.uk) and other companies. My research interests in the field of Biomedical Sciences are 'focused' on viral vectors as gene therapeutics and genetic vaccines against a range of disorders including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), atherosclerosis, HIV, and cancer. Part of my research is being conducted in the field of HIV vaccines and in particular in the design, production and functional/immunological characterization of novel HIV vaccine vectors (Adenoviral, AAV and lenti-VLP based). This work was part of my involvement in multinational concortiums. I have served as a member of the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD http://www.cavd.org/) initiative a (project funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I have also collaborated with scientists from: 1) the UK HIV Vaccine consortium and 2) the Grand Challenge Explorations (GCE) programs. So far, I have co-authored 28 peer reviewed research articles (with some appearing in Nature Communications, PNAS, Molecular Therapy), co filed 3 patents on AAV vector technologies, published 1 book and contributed to 2 book chapters. I hold a BSc in Biochemistry from University of Patras, Greece, and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from University of London, UK
Abstract
Abstract : Design, optimization and efficacy of viral vector vaccine strategies against HIV