Lead: Dr. Robert Gallo (James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine; Director of ITVI and Chair of the Recruitment Committee at ITVI; Director of the Microbial Oncology Program, Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute)

Focus: Advancing novel approaches to halt HIV-associated comorbidities and chronic immune dysfunction through translational research in collaboration with Dr. J. Zachary Porterfield and Dr. Yutaka Tagaya, while also supporting collaborative investigations with Dr. Davide Zella and Dr. Francesca Beneditte involving bacterial proteins, inflammation, and cancer-associated disease processes.

Lead: Dr. Shyam S. Mohapatra (Distinguished Health Professor and Program Director of Antiviral Development & Therapy)

Focus: Discovery and development of broad-spectrum antiviral and anti-inflammatory nanomedicines (BAANs) and investigating the integrated microbiome and multiomic mechanisms and clinical translation.

Collaborators: Dr. Subhra Mohapatra, Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Dr. Christian Brechot, Dr. Eleni Markoutsa,  Dr. J. Zachary Porterfield, Dr. Hongshuo Song, Dr. Yutaka Tagay

Research Team: Tahniat Afsari (Post Doctoral Fellow), Ryan J Green (Post Doctoral Fellow), Akshata Patne (Research Associate), Stuti Dasgupta (Research Assistant)

Leads: Dr. Davide Zella (Associate Professor and Director of the Bacterial Oncogenesis Unit), Dr. Francesca Benedetti (Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the Bacterial Oncogenesis Unit) 

Focus: Investigating how specific bacteria promote cancer and reproductive dysfunction through inflammation, immune modulation, and altered cellular signaling

Collaborators: Dr. Robert Gallo, Dr. Christian Brechot, Dr. Eduardo Sotomayor

Research Team: Camila Summers, (Research Scientist),  Faith Robinson, undergraduate student

 Lead: Dr. Noah Sather (Professor, Head of Basic Viral Immunology) 

Themes: Host-pathogen immune interactions, mechanisms of protection from viral infection, host immune responses to infection and vaccination, naturally acquired protective immunity.

Focus: We seek to make fundamental breakthroughs about the mechanisms of immune protection from viral infection. We aim to leverage these foundational discoveries to guide the development of novel vaccine or treatment approaches. 

Collaborators: Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Dr. Zach Porterfield, Dr. Hongshuo Song, Dr. Donald L. Sodora (University of Washington and the Seattle Children's Research Institute, Dr. Jeremy Smedley (New Iberia Research Center, University of Louisiana Lafayette).

Research Team: Nicholas Dambraskas (Associate in Research) and Andrew Raappana (Associate in Research)

 Lead: Dr. J. Zachary Porterfield

Theme: Reducing HIV-Associated Comorbidities and Advancing Toward a Functional Cure

Focus: Understanding HIV’s contribution to chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction, and cancer risk; Integrating clinical and molecular research; Supporting clinical trials for viral infections

Collaborators: From ITVI: Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Dr. Yutaka Tagaya, Dr. Hongshuo Song; From University of South Florida Division of Infectious Disease: Dr. Kami Kim, Dr. Charurut Somboonwit, Dr. Jacqueline Sherbuk, Dr. Ana Velez, MD; From Africa Health Research Institute: Dr. Henrik Kloverpris; From University of KwaZulu-Natal: Dr. Andile Sibiya and Dr. Warren Kuhn; From Ragon Institute of MIT and Harvard University; Dr. Mathias Lichterfeld; From Seattle Children’s / University of Washington, Dr. Noah Sather, PhD; From Oxford University, Dr. Philip Goulder

Research Team: Danielle Curtis, MPH (Unit Manager), Derek Jacobs, MD PhD (Graduate Student), and Lily Pohlenz (PhD Graduate Student)

 Lead: Dr. Hongshuo Song (Associate Professor, Head of the Seminar and Journal Club Committee)

Theme: HIV molecular virology, HIV transmission fitness, and immunopathogenesis; Molecular mechanisms for HIV-related cancer.

Focus: We focus on the fundamental aspects of HIV-1 transmissibility, immunopathogenesis, and persistence. Our long-term goal is to translate knowledge into approaches toward effective HIV prevention and functional cure. 

Collaborators: Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Dr. Charurut Somboonwit, US Military HIV Research Program, Vaccine Research Center (NIH), Los Alamos National Laboratory

Research Team: Dr. Abdur Rashid, (postdoctoral fellow), Georgina Agyekum, (PhD student), Cinthya Zelaya Aparicio, (research assistant), Hexiang Wang, (research assistant)

Supervisor: Dr. Yutaka Tagaya (Assistant Professor, Director of Laboratory Operations)

Capability: Scope9-color BD Melody machine in the BSL3, for cell sorting of infectious cells (e.g., HIV, HTLV-1, HBV/HCV, SARS-COV2) for USF Tampa campus