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Wistar is home to one of the most productive HIV research programs in the nation, focused on:

  • Studying the mechanisms of immunodeficiency caused by HIV infection.
  • Boosting immune system function against the virus.
  • Exploring new avenues to conquer and defeat viral latency, one of the most challenging obstacles to achieving a cure for HIV.
  • Creating an HIV vaccine.

Wistar HIV researchers are part of the Penn CFAR (Center for AIDS Research), one of 19 NIH-funded HIV research centers located at academic and research institutions throughout the United States. The Penn CFAR facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations among basic and clinical HIV and AIDS investigators at the University of Pennsylvania, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and The Wistar Institute.

The Wistar HIV research program leads the Martin Delaney Collaboratory Program, BEAT-HIV, focused on advancing the HIV cure agenda through both basic and clinical studies. The collaborative team includes more than 85 members worldwide from academia and industry.

The Wistar HIV research program engages in partnerships with our local HIV community to offer participation in research studies and education on the latest Wistar research to persons living with HIV/AIDS.


The BEAT-HIV Delaney Collaboratory is a consortium of HIV researchers from leading academic research institutions working with government, nonprofit organizations, and industry partners to test combinations of several novel immunotherapies under new preclinical research and clinical trials.


Leadership and Members

Leadership

Luis J. Montaner, D.V.M., D.Phil.

Program Leader
  • Vice President, Scientific Operations
  • Associate Director for Shared Resources, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center
  • Herbert Kean, M.D., Family Professor; Director, HIV-1 Immunopathogenesis Laboratory and Leader, HIV Research Program, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center
  • Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center
  • Scientific Director, Humanized Models of Disease Facility

David B. Weiner, Ph.D.

Program Co-leader
  • Executive Vice President
  • Director, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center
  • W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research, Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center
  • Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Members

Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center
  • Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center

Daniel Claiborne, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center
  • Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center
  • Scientific Director, Histotechnology Facility

Hildegund C.J. Ertl, M.D.

  • Professor, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center

Amelia Escolano, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center

Daniel Kulp, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor, Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center

Ian Tietjen, Ph.D.

  • Research Assistant Professor, HIV Research Program
  • Education Program Director, Global Studies & Partnerships

Senior Scientists

Livio Azzoni, M.D., Ph.D.
Emmanouil Papasavvas, Ph.D.
Costin Tomescu, Ph.D.
Zhe Yuan, Ph.D.


Contact Us

For more information on The Wistar Institute HIV research program, please contact:

Beth Peterson
The Wistar Institute
3601 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-898-3934
bpeterson@wistar.org