The Division of Infectious Diseases has laboratories focused on understanding the pathogenesis and transmission of infections of global significance. The Viral Hepatitis Center combines the work of 5 NIH-funded Principal Investigators focused on translating clinical observation to basic principles. Starting from well-characterized cohorts of volunteers who have hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus infection, we investigate clinical phenotypes, epidemiologic variables, human and viral genomic variation, cellular and humoral adaptive immunity, and innate immunity. There is a special interest in the impact of HIV on these infections. The goal of this team is to develop better methods to prevent and treat chronic viral hepatitis, and synthesize our findings to understand the basic mechanisms governing human immune responses to acute and chronic viral infections.
