: Dr. Rose obtained his Ph.D. in molecular biology, studying SV40-induced cellular transformation. During his postdoctoral fellowship, his entire laboratory left academia to form a new biotechnology company. There, Dr. Rose set up molecular cloning and bioinformatics and focused his research on the identification of new growth factors. He also developed a technique to identify distantly related sequences using consensus-degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primers (CODEHOPs). In 1995, Dr. Rose decided to leave the biotech industry and pursue an academic research career. Shortly after, he used CODEHOPs to discover three new viruses related to KSHV in RF. He developed the hypothesis that the macaque herpesviruses could play an etiological role in the pathogenesis of RF and that RF would be a relevant animal model of AIDS-KS. Dr. Rose has obtained R01 funding to characterize these viruses and is starting to develop a career in infectious diseases. Due to his previous focus in molecular biology, he lacks specific training in viral culture and biology of herpesvirus. His retraining and research efforts have been slowed by the need to pursue other aspects of his academic career for funding reasons, including teaching and program development. Salary support from the K02 award would free him from the current dependency on administrative and teaching duties during this critical turning point in his career and allow him to focus more closely on the characterization of the new viruses. Career development and training would also include participating in virology classes, seminars, conferences and meetings, and learning new techniques from experts in the field. His long-term goal is to determine the contributions and interactions of the new herpesviruses with retroviruses and endogenous cellular factors in the induction and progression of KS-like malignancies. His specific research aims are: 1) to determine the genomic organization of the macaque herpesvirus, RFHVMn; 2) to determine the cellular tropism and replicative state of the new macaque herpesviruses; and 3) to establish the baseline parameters of the infectious cycle of the macaque viruses. Additional training and focused research in virology would allow Dr. Rose to expand upon his initial discovery and make further significant contributions in the fields of herpesviruses and viral pathogenicity.
