NAME

Eric Lorenzo, Ph.D

POSITION TITLE

Assistant Professor

EDUCATION/TRAINING

INSTITUTION AND LOCATION

DEGREE

YEAR(s)

FIELD OF STUDY

B.S.
M.A.
Ph.D.

1984
1987
1998

Biology
Microbiology
Molecular Biology

1988-1990

1991-1996

1996-1998

1998-2000

2000-present

Research Technician, Mount Sinai Medical Center of Greater Miami, Retrovirology Research Laboratory.

Research Assistant, Mount Sinai Medical Center of Greater Miami, Retrovirology Research Laboratory.

Virology Technical Specialist, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Retrovirology Research Laboratory.

Research Assistant Professor, AIDS Research Program, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR.

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry Department, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR.

Research Interest

Dr. Lorenzo and his staff study the evolution and genomic diversification of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus has the ability to change at an amazingly rapid pace its genetic structure through mutation. They have focused on phylogenetic methodologies to reconstruct an evolutionary history of the diverse viral forms and from this to infer epidemiological relationships among cases of suspected infection. Determining the source of infections in cases of unknown epidemiology can help assess the safety of the blood supply, track the spread of disease in novel regions, and help determine the etiology in cases of unusual exposures.

This viral evolution and diversification has also been proposed as essential to disease pathogenesis and progression rate. This rapid diversification for example, allows the virus to rapidly become resistant to drug therapy. Hence, Dr. Lorenzo’s research also focuses in the appearance of viral mutations associated with drug resistance and their relation to rate of disease progression. Recently, Dr. Lorenzo and his staff have been focusing on HIV evolution and diversification before and after highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). They are interested on the relationship between viral evolution and diversification, especially viral reservoirs and rate of disease progression.

As a native born Puerto Rican, Dr. Lorenzo welcomes the opportunity to conduct quality research here in his hometown of Ponce. He also welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the education of other minority students both as a research scientist, and as a teacher.

Publications

Lorenzo E ., Colon M., Almodovar S., Maldonado I., Gonzalez S., Costa S., Hill M, Mendoza R., Sepulveda G., Yanagihara R., Nerurkar V., Kumar R., Yamamura Y., Scott W. and Kumar A. Influence of CD4+ T cells Counts on Viral Evolution in HIV Infected Individuals Undergoing Suppressive HAART. Virology, 2004;330(1):116-126.

Hill M., Lorenzo E., and Kumar A. Changes in the human immunodeficiency virus V3 region that correspond with disease progression: a meta-analysis. Virus Research, 2004:106(1):27-33

Lorenzo E , Kumar R, Hill M., Costa S., Chaudhary S., Tirado G., Yamamura Y., and Kumar A. Genetic Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 Tat before and after Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 2004;20(10): 1108-12

Lorenzo E , Collins T, Fisher E, and Herrera RJ. New Tat Sequences Support the Hypothesis of Dental Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1. Electrophoresis, 2001; 22(3):438-44.)

Demeter L M, D’Aquila R, Weislow O, Lorenzo E, Erice A, Fitzgibbon J, Shafer R, Richman D, Howard T M, Zhao Y, Fisher E, Hu D, Mayers D, Sylvester S, Arens M, Sannerud K, Rasheed S, Johnson V, Kuritzkes D, Reichelder P and Japour A. Interlaboratory concordance of DNA sequence analysis to detect reverse transcriptase mutations in HIV-1 proviral DNA. ACTG Sequencing Working Group. AIDS Clinical Trials Group. Journal of Virological Methods, 1998; 75(1):93-104

Unal A, Lorenzo E, Brown M, Smith L, Matsuura S, Scott G, and Scott W. Reverse Transcriptase Mutations in HIV Infected Children Treated With Zidovudine. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Human Retrovirology 1996; 13: 140-145.

Lorenzo E , Herrera RJ, Fischl MA, Lai S, Hill MD. The Tat and C2-V3 EnvelopeGenes in the Molecular Epidemiology of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1. Virology 1996; 221:310-317.

DeBry RW, Abele LG, Weiss SH, Hill MD, Bouzas M, Lorenzo E, Graebnitz, F, and Resnick, L. Dental HIV Transmission Questioned. Nature 1993; 361: 691.

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