Deborah Persaud

Deborah Persaud (born 23 August 1960) is a Guyanese-born American virologist who primarily works on HIV/AIDS at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Deborah Persaud
Born (1960-08-23) 23 August 1960
Port Mourant, East Berbice-Corentyne, British Guiana (present-day Guyana)
Known forHIVs, AIDSs
Scientific career
FieldsHIV in children
InstitutionsHopkins Children's Center
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Biography

Persaud was born on 23 August 1960 in Port Mourant, East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana. At age 16 she moved to Brooklyn. Persaud attended the New York University School of Medicine after receiving her undergraduate degree from York College CUNY.[1] She also earned a master's degree at the New York University School of Medicine. She started residency at the Babies Hospital of New York and finished her chief residency at the same hospital. Persaud later was a fellow at the New York University School of Medicine. She began her academic career as an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1997 to 2004. In 2005, Persaud became an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Research

The main topic of Persaud's research is AIDS and HIV of children. However, her research started from research about HIV in adults. In 2003, she stated about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- type1 included in the subtypes of HIV. For the HIV patient, the HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) is used as treatment. The HAART regimen includes some drugs containing nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and protease inhibitor (PI), and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI).[2] The HAART has important function to suppress the levels of HIV-1 to below quantification. HIV-1 persists in cellular reservoirs of CD4+ continually with low-level viremia in adults, and this is very sensitive. Persaud and her research team found that viremia persists in children with plasma virus remaining at a level under the limit of detection of clinical assays.[3] When children with HIV-1 receive HAART treatment, the viremia that is difficult to observe is continued virus production without resistance in the protease gene.[4] Persaud's research team tried to find a novel culture assay that can stimulate the virus production during their latent, integrated HIV-1 in resting CD4+ T cells with the antiretroviral drugs. These drugs interfere with the replication of unintegrated virus. They also demonstrated the facts that HIV-1 polymerase sequences from the resting CD4+ T cells of the patients.[5] By following this research, her research topic has been about antiretroviral therapy. In 2009, her research team focused on the ongoing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). From this research, it was figured out ongoing virus replication contributes to low-level viremia in patients on HAART, and this ongoing replication is subject to CD8+ T-cell selective pressure. After that, she suggested the induction therapy by using protease-inhibitors has influenced the effect of NNRTI (non-Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors) resistance on virologic response to nevirapine-based HAART in children patients of HIV. For a long time, her research topic has been focusing on the therapy of HIV-1 especially with the child patients. In order to develop the therapy, she has been explained about the mechanism using the NNRTI of HAART.[6]

In 2013 Persaud worked as part of a team who showed that a baby had been cured of HIV by giving it anti-HIV drugs; she won the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award and was featured in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in 2013.[7][8][9][10] She was also included in Nature's 10 for 2013, by the journal Nature.[11] In 2014 Persaud's work contributed to a second baby being cured of HIV.[12]

Professional activity
  • Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group, Virology Core Committee (2000), Vaccine Subcommittee (2001) and Immunology Subcommittee (2001)
  • International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group(IMPAACT) Laboratory Committee(2006)
  • NIH study section, AIDS Drug Development and Therapeutics (2006)
  • Foundation Grant review: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and AMFAR (2006-2007)
  • NIH Bench-to-bedside (2006, 2008)
  • International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group(IMPAACT) Subspeciality Laboratory
  • Program Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship
  • Member of Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and Society for Pediatric Research

References
  1. Swingle, Anne (May 2005). "Deborah Persaud: Clinician First, Scientist Second". Dome: News for the Johns Hopkins Medicine Family. 56 (4). Archived from the original on 2014-12-04.
  2. Chichocki, Mark (3 June 2014). "HAART-Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy". About health. Archived from the original on 11 July 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  3. Persaud, Deborah (2003). "Latency in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection: No easy answers". Journal of Virology. 77 (3): 1659–1665. doi:10.1128/jvi.77.3.1659-1665.2003. PMC 140995. PMID 12525599.
  4. Kieffer, Tara; Finucane, Mariel; Nettles, Richard (2004). "Genotypic analysis of HIV-1 drug resistance at the limit of detection: Virus production without evolution in treated adults with undetectable HIV loads". Journal of Infectious Diseases. 189 (8): 1452–1465. doi:10.1086/382488. PMID 15073683.
  5. Nettles, Richard; Kieffer, Tara; Simmons, Rachel; Cofrancesco, Joseph; Moore, Richard; Gallant, Joel; Persaud, Deborah; Siliciano, Robert (2004). "Genotypic resistance in HIV-1 infected patients with persistently detectable low-level viremia while receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 39 (7): 1030–1037. doi:10.1086/423388. PMID 15472857.
  6. Shiuu, Carlum; Cunningham, Coleen; Greenough, Thomas; Muresan, Petronella; Sanchez-Merino, Victor; Carey, Vincent; Jackson, J.Brooks; Ziemniak, Carrie; Fox, Lawrence; Belzer, Marvin (2009). "Identification of ongoing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication in residual viremia during recombinant HIV-1 poxvirus immunizations in patients with clinically undetectable viral loads on durable suppressive highly active antiretroviral therapy". Journal of Virology. 83 (19): 9731–9742. doi:10.1128/jvi.00570-09. PMC 2748010. PMID 19605490.
  7. Clarke, Tangerine (14 March 2013). "Deborah Persaud wins award for AIDS research". Caribbean Life. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  8. Pappas, Stephanie (18 December 2013). "These 10 scientists pushed boundaries and made breakthroughs in 2013". Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  9. Dybul, Mark (18 April 2013). "The 2013 Time 100: Hannah Gay, Katherine Luzuriaga and Deborah Persaud". Time. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  10. "Time Magazine Names Johns Hopkins Pediatric HIV Expert Deborah Persaud to 2013 World List of 'Top 100' Influential People". Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Archived from the original on April 27, 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  11. Alex Jackson (19 December 2013). "Nature's 10 people who mattered in 2013". Nature.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  12. McNeil, Donald (5 March 2014). "Early Treatment Is Found to Clear H.I.V. in a 2nd Baby". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
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