The candidate for the SERCA grant is Dr. Elizabeth E. Hendricks, who has demonstrated a commitment to the biomedical sciences in the course of her career. Dr. Hendricks earned her DVM from Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine in 1994, completed her board certification in veterinary pathology in September 2001, and is expected to earn her PhD in Pathobiology in 2004. Dr. Hendricks' goal is to obtain further training in biomedical research in order to become an independent and productive researcher. Dr. Hendricks has the commitment of support and guidance from her mentor Dr. Keith Mansfield and collaborators, Dr. Ronald Desrosiers and Dr. Barry Bloom. Dr. Hendricks will participate in seminars and journal clubs given at Harvard Medical School and the University of Connecticut, as well as taking courses in advanced techniques offered by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Dr. Hendricks' research is on the pathogenesis of mycobacterial disease in AIDS. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that viral determinants with the SIV envelope negatively impact the outcome of mycobacterial infection. Dr. Hendricks' hypothesis is that envelope from animals with disseminated mycobacterial disease, through its interaction with chemokine receptors on macrophages, activate signal transduction pathways that enhance mycobacterial survival through impaired phagosomal maturation and acidification, decreased macrophage activation, and altered chemokine and cytokine expression. To address this hypothesis Dr. Hendricks has designed three specific aims:
Aim 1 : Quantify the temporal alterations in macrophage activation and immunophenotypic composition of hepatic microgranulomas from rhesus macaques experimentally infected with SIV and Mycobacterium avium;
Aim 2 : Determine the effects of gp120 interaction with chemokine receptors on macrophage signal transduction and mycobacteriocidal activity;
and Aim 3 : Determine the influence of lentiviral envelope on the progression and outcome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
These aims will be achieved using both in vitro and in vivo systems and advanced research techniques. The New England Primate Research Center is an excellent environment for research training. The facilities, equipment and faculty at the NEPRC are unparalleled, and many excellent investigators have been trained here. To work with Drs. Mansfield, Desrosiers, and Bloom, who have extensive experience in the field of infectious disease, offers an exceptional opportunity to train with some of the foremost researchers in their field.
