Author Profile

Dr. Andrea Savarino has authored both preclinical and clinical studies for understanding HIV persistence and developing strategies for an HIV cure. His major contribution to the field has been the thorough study and long-term follow-up of two macaques showing control of the virus following suspension of antiretroviral therapy plus an experimental anti-reservoir treatment, i.e., the gold salt auranofin and the investigational chemotherapeutic agent buthionione sulfoximine (BSO). With his team, Dr. Savarino found that these drugs are able to decrease the number of activated CD4 T cells -which are preferential targets for HIV infection- as well as to induce a "shock and kill" effect, contributing to the elimination of the latently infected cells.