Boritz Research Group

The Virus Persistence and Dynamics Section (VPDS) works to understand the persistence of HIV and other viruses in vivo by developing and applying advanced sequencing and other technologies.

Eli Boritz, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief, Virus Persistence and Dynamics Section (VPDS)

Contact: boritze@niaid.nih.gov

Specialty(s): Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine
Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center

Education:

M.D., Ph.D., University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO

Dr. Boritz began his HIV research career in the mid-1990s as a summer student in the laboratory of Dr. John K. Rose. An interest in fundamental and translational studies of host-virus interactions then led him to pursue combined M.D./Ph.D. training at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. He completed his Ph.D. in the Immunology Program studying HIV-specific CD4 T-cell responses...

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Eli Boritz, M.D., Ph.D.

Frida Belinky, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist

Education:

Ph.D., Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

M.Sc., Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

B.Sc., Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Languages Spoken: Hebrew, Russian

Dr. Belinky’s research focuses on intra-Host HIV evolution and the identification of positive selection in the env gene under different conditions. Her research interests include bioinformatics methods focusing on molecular evolution, phylogenetics, and sequence analyses.

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Tracy Dorsey, B.S.

Program Manager

Education:

B.S., Howard University

Tracy Dorsey has dedicated her career to serving underserved communities in the District of Columbia. She managed the District of Columbia House Call Program for over ten years, followed by five years supporting patient care in the Infusion Center of the Oncology/Hematology Department at Georgetown University. Currently, Ms. Dorsey serves as a Program Manager at the Vaccine Research Center at the...

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Sunyyah Fenelon-Foristall, B.S.

Postbaccalaureate Fellow

Education:

B.S., Boston University

Sunyyah Fenelon-Foristall’s research interests consist of studying intra-host diversity of HIV-1 transcripts for potential drug escape mutations from antiretroviral selective pressure. Her current project focuses on optimizing a high-throughput single genome sequencing assay for near-full length RNA transcripts for the purposes of investigating diverse populations of HIV RNA in human plasma.

Learn more about Sunyyah Fenelon-Foristall, B.S.

Sunyyah Fenelon-Foristall, B.S.

Sung Hee Ko, Ph.D.

Bioengineering Scientist

Education:

Ph.D., Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea

M.S., Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea

B.S., Pusan National University, South Korea

Languages Spoken: Korean

Dr. Ko’s research interests are the study of virus genetic diversity and its evolution using single genome sequencing. He has developed a high-throughput and high-accuracy single genome sequencing strategy by combining unique molecular identifiers and long-read sequencing technology. The method has been applied to studies of HIV dynamics under bNAb treatment and intra-individual SARS-CoV-2...

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Andy Lujan, R.N., Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., Duke University / NIH Graduate Partnerships Program

B.S.N., The University of Texas at El Paso

Andy is a postdoctoral fellow interested in the mechanisms of HIV persistence. His research focuses on characterizing the transcriptome of HIV DNA+ cells within their native tissue microenvironment.

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Prakriti Mudvari, Ph.D.

Bioinformatic Scientist

Education:

Ph.D., Molecular Medicine, George Washington University

M.S., Genomics and Bioinformatics, George Washington University

B.S., Biology, Bowling Green State University

Languages Spoken: Nepali

Dr. Mudvari’s research interests are the application of novel genomics-based technologies to understand the biology and host cellular response to HIV and other emerging pathogens. Her research projects characterize the transcriptome of HIV infected CD4 T cells in patients undergoing long term antiretroviral therapy. 

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Liliana Pérez Rodríguez, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist

Education:

Ph.D., Rutgers University

B.S., University of Puerto Rico

Languages Spoken: Spanish

Dr. Pérez Rodríguez’s research focuses on understanding immunological markers, metabolic states and mechanisms that allow HIV to persist in HIV-positive individuals undergoing antiretroviral therapy by performing single-copy sequence analysis, virus phylogenetic studies and high-throughput gene expression analysis of HIV-positive individuals.

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Pierce E. Radecki, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis 
B.S., Bioengineering, University of Maryland 

Dr. Radecki is a computational biologist with interests in genomic data mining, algorithm development, evolutionary biology, and translational bioengineering. He contributed to research projects ranging from medical virology to applied machine learning with big genomic data. His doctoral research studied methods to better predict and understand the functional nature of RNA structures in vivo...

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Pavitra Ramdas, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., Molecular Virology, Indian institute of science education and research (IISER Bhopal), India

M.Tech., Biotechnology, NIT Allahabad, India

B.Tech., Biotechnology, SASTRA University, India 

Languages Spoken: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Japanese

Dr. Ramdas’s research focuses on characterizing cells that harbor persistent HIV in people living with HIV (PLWH) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), using single-cell technologies.

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Marc William Theberge Jr., B.S.

Ph.D. Candidate, NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program
Co-mentor: Dr. Nicholas Matheson

Education:

B.S., Cell and Molecular Biology, Tulane University

Marc Théberge applies functional genetic screening techniques to identify cellular regulators of HIV latency establishment in human cells. He is curious about the origins and characteristics of rare cell populations, such as infected cells that persist under antiretroviral therapy, and believes in the pursuit of discovery for its own sake.

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Jonah Zuehls, B.S.

Postbaccalaureate Fellow

Education:

B.S., Cell and Molecular Biology, Health Science, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Jonah Zuehls contributes to the development of single‑virus genome sequencing approaches and advances in single‑cell omics technologies, with the goal of revealing new insights into the latent HIV reservoir and overall HIV evolution. His research interests center on the co‑evolution of host organisms with retroviruses and retrotransposons, with a particular focus on how restriction factors shape...

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Jonah Zuehls, B.S.

Former Research Group Members

  • Ayushman Dobhal, M.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2022-25
  • Vanessa Isabel Guerra Canedo, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2022-25
  • Kaelo Seatla, M.D., Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2023-25
  • Rajat Ramesh, B.A. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2024-25
  • Nikita Dulin, B.A. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2022-24
  • Krista Miller, M.S. Graduate Data Science Summer Program (GDSSP) Intern 2024
  • Mohammad M. Abu-Laban, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2020-23
  • Hannah Shepard, M.P.H. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2020-22
  • Lisa Mayer, Emerging Leaders in Data Science (ELDS) Rotating Fellow 2021-22
  • Aisha Aljanahi, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2020-21
  • Max Lee, B.A. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2019-21
  • Ellie Bayat-Mokhtari, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2020-21
  • Si Young Lee, Ph.D. Scientist 2018-20
  • Divya Kilam, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow 2018-20
  • Wiriya Rutvisuttinunt, Ph.D. Scientist 2019-20
  • Samuel Smith, M.D. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2018-20
  • Sydney Foote, Emerging Leaders in Data Science (ELDS) Rotating Fellow 2019-20
  • Daniel Crespo-Vélez, M.D. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2017-19
  • Saami Zakaria, M.D. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2017-18
  • Sally Choi, B.S. Summer Intern 2018
  • Mehdi Hamouda, Ph.D. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2016-17
  • Alexander Le, M.D. Postbaccalaureate Fellow 2016-17
  • Gideon Wolf, M.D., Ph.D. Summer Intern 2017
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