Contact

Location: Trinity University, San Antonio TX

Department

Brackenridge Distinguished Professor of Biology, Trinity University

Giavedoni, Luis D., Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Education

Ph.D., Biochemistry, National University of Buenos Aires, 1988

M.S., Biochemistry, National University of Litoral, 1982

Research

Dr. Giavedoni’s principal research interests include the study of viral infections and the development of vaccines against such infections. His laboratory specifically works in understanding the innate and adaptive immune responses to retroviral infections in animal models of natural and experimental infections, and in identifying correlates of vaccine-induced protection against infection with filoviruses. They study the role of cytokines and co-stimulatory proteins, molecules that mediate communication between the immune system and the whole organism. His laboratory has been developing reagents for the identification of cytokines in nonhuman primates (NHP) and also studying the potential use of these molecules to modify the outcome of immune responses. They have also studies aiming at controlling or eliminating the virus in NHP infected with retroviruses.

Dr. Giavedoni’s laboratory also serves as the Immunology Core Laboratory for the Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC); The lab supports the work of other scientists by:

1) providing assays based in flow cytometry for the characterization and isolation of blood cell subsets and the determination of cell mediated activity (T-cell proliferation, cytotoxic and natural killer cell activity) in nonhuman primate species;

2) providing methodologies for the simultaneous determination of multiple cytokines and chemokines in biological fluids derived from nonhuman primate species; and

3) identifying certain herpes and retroviral infections in macaques from the SNPRC specific pathogen-free (SPF) Indian rhesus macaque breeding colony.

Awards & Accomplishments

  • 1992 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) Young Investigator Award, conceded by the American Society for Microbiology.
  • Scholar of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (1993-1996).
  • International Professorship for Latin America Award, American Society for Microbiology (2003).
  • Co-Chair, Organizing Committee, 30th Annual Symposium on NHP Models for AIDS”, San Antonio, TX, October 24-27, 2012.
  • Chair, Scientific Program Committee, 30th Annual Symposium on NHP Models for AIDS”, San Antonio, TX, October 24-27, 2012.

Affiliations

  • Vice-chairman, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, SFBR, 2006-present.
  • Review editor, Frontiers in HIV and AIDS, Feb 2012-present
  • Editor, Journal of Vaccines, Apr 2012-present
  • Member, NIH/NIAID “HIV/AIDS Vaccines Study Section” (VACC), Mar 2006-Mar 2011.
  • Member, Research Advisory Committee, Southwest National Primate Research Center, 06/1999-present.
  • Member, Committee on Graduate Studies, Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), 09/2000-2012.
  • Member, Committee on Admissions to the Program in Graduate Studies, Department of Microbiology, UTHSCSA, 11/2000.
  • Member, American Society for Virology, International Society for Vaccines, International Society of Clinical Cytometry, American Society for Microbiology, International Cytokine & Interferon Society, Scientists Center for Animal Welfare, International Society for Infectious Diseases, International AIDS Society.
  • Ad Hoc reviewer: NIAID, NIH, Special Emphasis Panel “Development of Immune Monitoring Reagents and MHC Typing Technologies for Nonhuman Primates”, 2004; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sustaining
  • Animal Health and Well-Being Program, 1995-Present; National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion of Argentina, 1999-Present.
  • Escort of National Flag, Highest academic grades, Class of 1988, School of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, University of Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
  • Member of the NIH/NIAID “HIV/AIDS Vaccines (VAC)”, 2006-present.

Publications

Complete List of Publications

  • Durudas, A., Chen, H.L., Gasper, M.A., Sundaravaradan, V., Milush, J.M., Silvestri, G., Johnson, W., Giavedoni, L.D. and Sodora, D.L. (2011) Differential Innate Immune Responses to Low or High Dose Oral SIV Challenge in Rhesus Macaques. Curr HIV Res.
  • Pascutti, M.F., Rodriguez, A.M., Falivene, J., Giavedoni, L., Drexler, I. and Gherardi, M.M. (2011) Interplay between modified vaccinia virus Ankara and dendritic cells: phenotypic and functional maturation of bystander dendritic cells. J Virol 85, 5532-45.
  • Sariol, C.A., Martinez, M.I., Rivera, F., Rodriguez, I.V., Pantoja, P., Abel, K., Arana, T., Giavedoni, L., Hodara, V., White, L.J., Anglero, Y.I., Montaner, L.J. and Kraiselburd, E.N. (2011) Decreased dengue replication and an increased anti-viral humoral response with the use of combined Toll-like receptor 3 and 7/8 agonists in macaques. PLoS One 6, e19323
  • Waleh, N., Seidner, S., McCurnin, D., Giavedoni, L., Hodara, V., Goelz, S., Liu, B.M., Roman, C. and Clyman, R.I. (2011) Anatomic Closure of the Premature Patent Ductus Arteriosus: The Role of CD14+/CD163+ Mononuclear Cells and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in Neointimal Mound Formation. Pediatr Res. 70, 332-338.
  • Belshan M, Kimata JT, Brown C, Cheng X, McCulley A, Larsen A, Thippeshappa R, Hodara V, Giavedoni L, Hirsch V, Ratner L. (2012) Vpx is Critical for SIVmne infection of pigtail macaques. Retrovirology 9:32.
  • Del Prete, G. Q., M. Scarlotta, L. Newman, C. Reid, L. M. Parodi, J. D. Roser, K. Oswald, P. A. Marx, C. J. Miller, R. C. Desrosiers, D. H. Barouch, R. Pal, M. Piatak, Jr., E. Chertova, L. D. Giavedoni, D. H. O’Connor, J. D. Lifson, and B. F. Keele. (2013) Comparative Characterization of Transfection- and Infection-Derived SIV Challenge Stocks for In Vivo Non-Human Primate Studies. J Virol 87:4584-95. PMCID: 3691056.
  • Giavedoni, L. D., H. L. Chen, V. L. Hodara, L. Chu, L. M. Parodi, L. M. Smith, V. Sexton, D. Cappelli, and D. L. Sodora. (2013) Impact of mucosal inflammation on oral simian immunodeficiency virus transmission. J Virol 87:1750-8. PMCID: 3554177.
  • Lanford, R. E., B. Guerra, D. Chavez, L. Giavedoni, V. L. Hodara, K. M. Brasky, A. Fosdick, C. R. Frey, J. Zheng, G. Wolfgang, R. L. Halcomb, and D. B. Tumas. (2013) GS-9620, an Oral Agonist of Toll-Like Receptor-7, Induces Prolonged Suppression of Hepatitis B Virus in Chronically Infected Chimpanzees. Gastroenterology 144 (7): 1508-17. PMCID: 3691056.
  • Turk, G., Y. Ghiglione, J. Falivene, M. E. Socias, N. Laufer, R. S. Coloccini, A. M. Rodriguez, M. J. Ruiz, M. A. Pando, L. D. Giavedoni, P. Cahn, O. Sued, H. Salomon, and M. M. Gherardi. (2013) Early Gag immunodominance of the HIV-specific T-cell response during acute/early infection is associated with higher CD8+ T-cell antiviral activity, and correlates with the preservation of the CD4+ T-cell compartment. J Virol. 87 (13): 7445-62. PMCID: 3700299
  • Fraietta, J. A., Mueller, Y. M., Yang, G., Boesteanu, A. C., Gracias, D. T., Do, D. H., Hope, J. L., Kathuria, N., McGettigan, S. E., Lewis, M. G., Giavedoni, L. D,. Jacobson, J. M., Katsikis, P. D. (2013) Type I interferon upregulates Bak and contributes to T cell loss during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. PLoS Pathog 9 (10): e1003658. PMCID: 3795023.