Dr. Michael F. Summers - The molecules of HIV-1: What they look likeand how they can be inhibited

Summary: Retroviruses are responsible for a variety of animal diseases, including leukemia, cancer, and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Approximately 8% of the human genome consists of retrovirus genes that were obtained by infection of our ancestors. {South, 1991 #155 } The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the causative agent for AIDS, is a particularly lethal retrovirus that has caused nearly 25 million deaths over the past 30 years. An additional ~33 million people are currently living with HIV-1 infection, including 15.7 million women and 2.1 million children. Recent research has focused on understanding how the main structural protein of HIV-1, called Gag, gets to specific sites inside infected cells and assembles into new viruses. After the newly assembled viruses are released from the cell, they undergo structural changes that are required in order to infect other cells of the immune system. This talk discusses the development of a new class of antiviral inhibitors that block viral maturation in test tubes and could lead to new clinical approaches for the treatment of AIDS. Michael F. Summers is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Adjunct Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. He is primarily engaged in the research on application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to studies of the structure and function of proteins and macromolecular interactions. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and computational methods are employed in the laboratory to address protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions that occur as retroviruses assemble in infected cells. Summers was the recipient of the AAAS Mentor Award in 2003. He is honored for his contributions in mentoring students from underrepresented groups and leadership in promoting Ph.D. careers for underrepresented groups in science and engineering. Summers has directly mentored a dozen Ph.D. students from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Of the 67 bachelor’s degree recipients who have worked in his lab, 20 have entered Ph.D. programs. He developed and directs the Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program, a minority graduate program at UMBC. Through this program, 32 full-time students, African American and Hispanic, are pursuing Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences. Summers is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and he serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, and on the Education and Human Resources Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Emily M. Gray Award from the Biophysical Society; the William A. Hinton Award from the American Association of Microbiology; the US presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring; and the Maryland Chemist of the Year Award from the American Chemical Society.Summers earned his B.S. in Chemistry in 1980 from the University of West Florida. He received his Ph.D. in Inorganic and Bio-Physical Chemistry from Emory University in 1984.