Welcome!
We work towards unraveling the molecular details of how biomedically-relevant enzymes function, how they are inhibited, how they develop drug resistance and towards developing drugs that will treat human disease by novel mechanisms of action.
In pursuit of these goals we use a combination of conventional and cutting-edge research tools, including protein biochemistry, molecular biology, fluorescence imaging/microscopy, macromolecular engineering, X-ray crystallography, molecular modeling, enzymology, and high-throughput technologies.
LAB HIGHLIGHTS
🚨New Funding Alert!🚨
New grant on Mpox Virus: R01AI177696 . Title: “Discovery of Antivirals Targeting Mpox Virus” LINK
The goal of this project is to utilize exceptional expertise in drug discovery (Raymond Schinazi), high- throughput assay development (Sarafianos) and screening technologies (Haian Fu and Yihong Du), and mechanism of action and resistance studies (Sarafianos) towards the discovery of innovative antivirals that target Mpox virus, which has recently caused an ongoing global health emergency involving 100 countries around the world.
Publication Alert!
Congratulations to grad student Will McFadden and undergrad Candy Gao on the publication of their TSAR package in the peer-reviewed Bioconductor R Repository!
The TSAR package aims to simplify data analysis and offer front to end workflow, from raw data to multiple trial analysis. It is free and under an AGPL-3 license! Processing, analyzing, and visualizing data through shiny applications decrease the coding knowledge required, but command-line functions are available for users more familiar with R to have full control over analysis.
The software package is available here.
Publication Alert!
We’re pleased to share our paper “Multidisciplinary studies with mutated HIV-1 capsid proteins reveal structural mechanisms of lattice stabilization” in Nature Communications. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41197-7.
Publication Alert!
Publication Alert!
Biology of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) core and capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) cure
We are thrilled to congratulate graduate student Xin (Kristy) Wen on her funded F31 “Characterization of JT-4-173, a Potent Antiviral that Inhibits HIV-1 by a Novel Mechanism of Action.”
Sarafianos Lab to host the Winter 2023 B-HIVE Face-to-Face Meeting in Atlanta, Ga, January 19-20th.
Publication Alert!
Nirmatrelvir Resistance in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron_BA.1 and WA1 Replicons and Escape Strategies
Congratulations to graduate student Will McFadden on the funding of his F31 “Structural and Biochemical Effects of Capsid-targeting Molecules on HIV-1 Capsid Assembly.”
Stefan Sarafianos, Haian Fu, and Raymond Schinazi received SOM/ WHSC I3 Rapid-Synergy Awards: Advancing Research to Address the Emerging Pox Virus for “High Throughput Screening Studies for Discovery of Monkeypox Virus Inhibitors.”
We are delighted to announce that Emory’s Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences has selected Stefan Sarafianos for the 2022 Faculty Mentor Award “for providing exemplary mentorship to trainees over the course of their entire graduate careers.”
A Multi-PI R01 “Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 antivirals using a replicon assay” (Sarafianos PI; Kirby Co-I) has been awarded!
U54 Center “Behavior of HIV in Viral Environments” has received NIH funding!
B-HIVE builds on work from the HIVE Center, adding new directions and dynamic new researchers to explore HIV structure, function, host interaction, and inhibition.
Congratulations to graduate student Lexi Snyder on her proposal “Mechanisms of HIV-1 Hypersensitivity to Islatravir.” Her F31 proposal was scored at 2% and is now funded.
A multi-PI R01 (Sarafianos lead, ZQ Wang-MPI, Eric Freed-MPI) grant application entitled “Development of HIV capsid-targeting antivirals that affect immune response by modulating capsid stability and have improved resistance profiles” was recently scored at 3% and is now funded.
Congratulations to graduate student Maria Cilento for her two recent publications at Chemical Reviews (impact factor 72.1) (PMID: 33507067): “Avoiding Drug Resistance in HIV Reverse Transcriptase” and “Avoiding Drug Resistance in HIV Reverse Transcriptase” and in Antimicrob Agents Chemother: “Development of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Resistance to 4′-Ethynyl-2-Fluoro-2′-Deoxyadenosine (EFdA) Starting with Wild-Type or Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor Resistant-Strains” (PMID: 34516245).
New 2021 NIH funding: “HBV Capsid Effectors” (Schinazi, PI; Sarafianos Co-I)
Haian Fu, Stefan Sarafianos, and Dennis Liotta received SOM COVID-19 Catalyst I^3 Award for “Accelerated discovery of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry inhibitors”
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