HIV Immunovirology Section
Mohammad Ali Rai, M.B., B.S., D.Phil.
Staff Clinician, HIV Immunovirology Section
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Specialty(s): Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Major Areas of Research
- Dynamics of immunologic and virologic parameters in HIV-infected individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy
- HIV and ageing
- HIV Multi-drug resistance
- HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders
Program Description
Our laboratory conducts Phase I clinical trials to evaluate novel therapeutic strategies aimed at achieving virologic suppression in HIV-infected individuals. Additionally, using bench-to-bedside approaches, we conduct translational research to address fundamental pathogenesis questions, such as mechanisms of viral persistence, the role of host immunity in suppression of the virus, and development of therapeutic agents.
Biography
Education
D.Phil., University of Oxford
M.B.,B.S. Aga Khan University Medical College
Dr. Rai earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.,B.S.) from Aga Khan University Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan where he was a part of Dr. Syed Ali’s team, which helped to identify and shed light on the HIV situation in Pakistan, publishing in Retrovirology, BMC Infectious Diseases, amongst others. After completing medical school, he joined Prof. Andrew McMichael and Prof. Sarah Rowland-Jones at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar to study immune corelates of protection in a cohort of long-term non-progressors analyzing HLA, T-cell, ADCC and ADCVI responses. After completing his D.Phil. in Clinical Medicine, he became a part of the Physician Scientist Training Program at the University of Cincinnati where he completed his residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Infectious Diseases. He worked as a part of Prof. Paul Spearman’s lab at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where he analyzed HIV infection in the human brain setting, investigating human microglial models. He was faculty at the University of Cincinnati prior to moving over to NIAID. Dr. Rai is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.
Selected Publications
Rai MA, Shi V, Kennedy BD, Whitehead EJ, Justement JS, Paul S, Blazkova J, Chun TW. Effect of aging on immune cells in male HIV-infected and -uninfected healthy individuals. AIDS. 2022 Nov 15;36(14):1935-1940.
Rai MA, Shi V, Kennedy BD, Justement JS, Gittens K, McCormack G, Blazkova J, Moir S, Chun TW. Effect of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccine Booster on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Reservoirs and Immune Markers. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Oct 17;9(11):ofac544.
Rai MA, Chun TW. Combination anti-HIV antibodies to achieve antiretroviral therapy-free virological suppression in infected individuals. Clin Transl Med. 2022 Sep;12(9):e1057.
Rai MA, Hammonds J, Pujato M, Mayhew C, Roskin K, Spearman P. Comparative analysis of human microglial models for studies of HIV replication and pathogenesis. Retrovirology. 2020 Nov 19;17(1):35.