Virus Persistence and Dynamics Section
Established in 2017
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
Major Areas of Research
- Mechanisms of HIV persistence in vivo
- Genetic and gene expression analyses of viruses and host cells
Program Description
VPDS was established with a mission to help develop means of targeting virus reservoirs and protecting health in people with HIV. One path toward this goal is to clarify the fundamental biology of HIV persistence during antiretroviral therapy (ART). Motivated by the genetic and functional diversity within cellular reservoirs for the virus, VPDS develops and applies high-throughput methods for characterizing large numbers of single cells and viruses comprehensively. Areas of investigation include genetic programs expressed by infected cells and the use of virus genetic analysis to detect critical processes not directly observable in vivo. We perform studies both in individuals treated with standard-of-care ART and in research participants receiving experimental HIV cure-directed therapies.
Since early 2020, VPDS has also worked to apply core laboratory technologies to medically important viruses other than HIV. Studies aim to define patterns of virus genetic variation in vivo that may relate to immune escape or resistance to antiviral countermeasures.
Biography
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 with Dr. Cara Wilson. After an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he came to NIAID as a fellow in infectious diseases. Following the clinical portion of his fellowship, he joined Dr. Daniel Douek's laboratory at Vaccine Research Center, where he worked to understand the cellular and molecular events that allow HIV reservoirs to persist in vivo. He joined the NIH faculty to establish the VPDS in 2017.
In addition to his activities in the research lab, Dr. Boritz serves as an HIV clinic preceptor for first-year Infectious Diseases fellows and a Clinical Competency Committee member for the NIAID Infectious Diseases fellowship program.
Clinical Studies
Selected Publications
Ramdas P, Lujan RA, Mudvari P, Pérez L, Boritz EA. Single cell technologies and the biology of HIV-infected CD4 T-cell reservoirs. Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2025 Sep 1;20(5):474-480.
Kanekiyo M, Gillespie RA, Cooper K, Canedo VG, Castanha PMS, Pegu A, Yang ES, Treaster L, Yun G, Wallace M, Kettenburg G, Williams C, Lundy J, Barrick S, O'Malley K, Midgett M, Martí MM, Chavva H, Corry J, Treat BR, Lipinski A, Batsche LO, Creanga A, Ritter I, Walker R, Olsen E, Laughlin A, Perez DR, Mascola JR, Boritz EA, Loo YM, Blair W, Esser M, Graham BS, Reed DS, Barratt-Boyes SM. Pre-exposure antibody prophylaxis protects macaques from severe influenza. Science. 2025 Jan 31;387(6733):534-541.
Ko SH, Radecki P, Belinky F, Bhiman JN, Meiring S, Kleynhans J, Amoako D, Guerra Canedo V, Lucas M, Kekana D, Martinson N, Lebina L, Everatt J, Tempia S, Bylund T, Rawi R, Kwong PD, Wolter N, von Gottberg A, Cohen C, Boritz EA. Rapid intra-host diversification and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in advanced HIV infection. Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 22;15(1):7240.
Clark IC, Mudvari P, Thaploo S, Smith S, Abu-Laban M, Hamouda M, Theberge M, Shah S, Ko SH, Pérez L, Bunis DG, Lee J, Kilam D, Zakaria S, Choi S, Darko S, Henry AR, Wheeler MA, Hoh R, Butrus S, Deeks SG, Quintana FJ, Douek DC, Abate AR, Boritz EA. HIV Silencing and Cell Survival Signatures in Infected T Cell Reservoirs. Nature. 2023 Feb 09;614:318-325.
Stein SR, Ramelli SC, Grazioli A, Chung JY, Singh M, Kwe Yinda C, Winkler CW, Sun J, Dickey JM, Ylaya K, Ko SH, Platt AP, Burbelo PD, Quezado M, Pittaluga S, Purcell M, Munster VJ, Belinky F, Ramos-Benitez MJ, Boritz EA, Lach IA, Herr DR, Rabin J, Saharia KS, Madathil RJ, Tabatabai A, Soherwardi S, McCurdy MT, NIH COVID-19 Autopsy Consortium, Peterson KE, Cohen JI, de Wit E, Vannella KM, Hewitt SM, Kleiner DE, Chertow DS. SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence throughout the human body and brain at autopsy. Nature. 2022 Dec 22;612:758-763.
Pérez L, Anderson J, Chipman J, Thorkelson A, Chun TW, Moir S, Haase AT, Douek DC, Schacker TW, and Boritz EA. Conflicting evidence for HIV enrichment in CD32+ CD4 T cells. Nature. 19 Sep 2018;561:E9-E16.
Research Network
HIV Cure Transformative Science Group (TSG), AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)
NIAID SARS-CoV-2 Assessment of Viral Evolution (SAVE) Program
Delaney AIDS Research Enterprise (DARE)
Virology Working Group, Epidemiology, Immunology, and Clinical Characteristics of Emerging Infectious Diseases with Pandemic Potential (EPICC), Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program (IDCRP), Uniformed Services University
Training Programs
NIAID Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program
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.