[Spotlight originally posted October, 2011]
Dr. Mellors is the Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pittsburgh and tenured Professor of Medicine. He is principal investigator of the NIH-funded Pittsburgh AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, and director of the Virology Core Laboratories for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Network and the Microbicide Trials Network.
Dr. Mellors’ research is dedicated to preventing, treating, and seeking a cure for HIV infection. His past work provided critical insight into the relation between viremia and HIV disease progression. His laboratory has focused on HIV resistance to antiretroviral drugs, which is a major obstacle to effective therapy. His laboratory’s work in this area has helped define the genetic and biochemical basis for HIV resistance to nucleoside and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, and the clinical impact of such resistance. More recent research projects are focusing on preventing HIV-1 infection through the use of antiretrovirals and quantifying HIV reservoirs in patients on antiretroviral therapy with the long-term goal of eliminating them.