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Imogen Wright | |
|---|---|
 Wright in 2017 | |
| Born | Imogen Abigail Wright January 21, 1986 |
| Education | University of the Western Cape |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Co-founder of Hyrax Biosciences |
Imogen Wright is a South African [1] software developer and bioinformatician. They are co-founder and CTO of Hyrax Biosciences, [2] a software development company specialising in DNA analysis programs. [3]
They earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Physics at Rhodes University. [4] They then earned a Master of Science in Theoretical Physics at the Perimeter Institute in Canada. [2] In 2015 the also earned a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Western Cape. [5]
In the past Wright has worked for Skimlinks. They were senior software developer and team leader at the big data startup in London. Wright also worked for the Amazon EC2 compute team as a software development engineer. [2] They were a UWC-SANBI (University of the Western Cape’s South African Bioinformatics Institute) post-doctoral research fellow. [6]
Wright was the 2016 runner-up for the Innovation Prize for Africa. [7] They won the prize of $25,000 [8] for Exatype, a piece of software developed by Hyrax Biosciences. Exatype is genotyping and drug-resistance testing software, [7] initially used for HIV-positive patients. [1] They were also invited to, but did not attend, the five-week TechWoman program in 2016. From 2300 applicants they were one of 90 chosen. The program was started by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011. [6]
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of Lentivirus that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive. Without treatment, the average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype.
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system, and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. HAART also prevents the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant same-sex and opposite-sex partners so long as the HIV-positive partner maintains an undetectable viral load.
HIV/AIDS denialism is the belief, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some of its proponents reject the existence of HIV, while others accept that HIV exists but argue that it is a harmless passenger virus and not the cause of AIDS. Insofar as they acknowledge AIDS as a real disease, they attribute it to some combination of sexual behavior, recreational drugs, malnutrition, poor sanitation, haemophilia, or the effects of the medications used to treat HIV infection (antiretrovirals).
APOBEC3G is a human enzyme encoded by the APOBEC3G gene that belongs to the APOBEC superfamily of proteins. This family of proteins has been suggested to play an important role in innate anti-viral immunity. APOBEC3G belongs to the family of cytidine deaminases that catalyze the deamination of cytidine to uridine in the single stranded DNA substrate. The C-terminal domain of A3G renders catalytic activity, several NMR and crystal structures explain the substrate specificity and catalytic activity.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. It can be managed with treatment. Without treatment it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Effective treatment for HIV-positive people involves a life-long regimen of medicine to suppress the virus, making the viral load undetectable. There is no vaccine or cure for HIV. An HIV-positive person on treatment can expect to live a normal life, and die with the virus, not of it.
CD4 immunoadhesin is a recombinant fusion protein consisting of a combination of CD4 and the fragment crystallizable region, similarly known as immunoglobulin. It belongs to the antibody (Ig) gene family. CD4 is a surface receptor for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The CD4 immunoadhesin molecular fusion allow the protein to possess key functions from each independent subunit. The CD4 specific properties include the gp120-binding and HIV-blocking capabilities. Properties specific to immunoglobulin are the long plasma half-life and Fc receptor binding. The properties of the protein means that it has potential to be used in AIDS therapy as of 2017. Specifically, CD4 immunoadhesin plays a role in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) towards HIV-infected cells. While natural anti-gp120 antibodies exhibit a response towards uninfected CD4-expressing cells that have a soluble gp120 bound to the CD4 on the cell surface, CD4 immunoadhesin, however, will not exhibit a response. One of the most relevant of these possibilities is its ability to cross the placenta.
The p24 capsid protein is the most abundant HIV protein with each virus containing approximately 1,500 to 3,000 p24 molecules. It is the major structural protein within the capsid, and it is involved in maintaining the structural integrity of the virus and facilitating various stages of the viral life cycle, including viral entry into host cells and the release of new virus particles. Detection of p24 protein's antigen can be used to identify the presence of HIV in a person's blood and diagnose HIV/AIDS, however, more modern tests have taken their place. After approximately 50 days of infection, the p24 antigen is often cleared from the bloodstream entirely.
2F5 is a broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibody (mAb) that has been shown to bind to and neutralize HIV-1 in vitro, making it a potential candidate for use in vaccine synthesis. 2F5 recognizes an epitope in the membrane-proximal external region (MPER) of HIV-1 gp41. 2F5 then binds to this epitope and its constant region interacts with the viral lipid membrane, which neutralizes the virus.
DNA dC->dU-editing enzyme APOBEC-3H, also known as Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3H or APOBEC-related protein 10, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the APOBEC3H gene.
EuResist is an international project designed to improve the treatment of HIV patients by developing a computerized system that can recommend optimal treatment based on the patient's clinical and genomic data.
Thumbi Ndung’u is a Kenyan-born HIV/AIDS researcher. He is the deputy director (Science) and a Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa. He is Professor of Infectious Diseases in the Division of Immunity and Infection, University College London. He is Professor and Victor Daitz Chair in HIV/TB Research and Scientific Director of the HIV Pathogenesis Programme (HPP) at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He holds the South African Research Chair in Systems Biology of HIV/AIDS. He is an adjunct professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the Programme Director of the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE), a research and capacity building initiative funded by the African Academy of Sciences and the Wellcome Trust.
Salim S. Abdool Karim, MBChB, MMed, MS(Epi), FFPHM, FFPath (Virol), DipData, PhD, DSc(hc), FRS is a South African public health physician, epidemiologist and virologist who has played a leading role in the AIDS and COVID-19 pandemic. His scientific contributions have impacted the landscape of HIV prevention and treatment, saving thousands of lives.
Treatment as prevention (TasP) is a concept in public health that promotes treatment as a way to prevent and reduce the likelihood of HIV illness, death and transmission from an infected individual to others. Expanding access to earlier HIV diagnosis and treatment as a means to address the global epidemic by preventing illness, death and transmission was first proposed in 2000 by Garnett et al. The term is often used to talk about treating people that are currently living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) to prevent illness, death and transmission. Although some experts narrow this to only include preventing infections, treatment prevents illnesses such as tuberculosis and has been shown to prevent death. In relation to HIV, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a three or more drug combination therapy that is used to decrease the viral load, or the measured amount of virus, in an infected individual. Such medications are used as a preventative for infected individuals to not only spread the HIV virus to their negative partners but also improve their current health to increase their lifespans. When taken correctly, ART is able to diminish the presence of the HIV virus in the bodily fluids of an infected person to a level of undetectability. Consistent adherence to an ARV regimen, monitoring, and testing are essential for continued confirmed viral suppression. Treatment as prevention rose to great prominence in 2011, as part of the HPTN 052 study, which shed light on the benefits of early treatment for HIV positive individuals.
Susan Zolla-Pazner is an American research scientist who is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Microbiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a guest investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at The Rockefeller University, both in New York City. Zolla-Pazner's work has focused on how the immune system responds to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and, in particular, how antibodies against the viral envelope develop in the course of infection.
Sharon Ruth Lewin, FRACP, FAHMS is a leading infectious diseases expert who is the inaugural Director of The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics. She is also a Melbourne Laureate Professor of Medicine at The University of Melbourne, and the current President of the International AIDS Society (IAS).
Alash'le Grace Abimiku is a Nigerian executive director of the International Research Centre of Excellence at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria and a professor of virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who takes interest in the prevention and treatment of HIV.
Ya-Chi Ho is a Taiwanese infectious disease researcher and Associate Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and Medicine at Yale University. Her research centers on the interaction between HIV and the host's immune system with the ultimate goal of curing HIV/AIDS.
Mary F. Kearney is an American biologist. She is a senior scientist and head of the translational research section in the HIV dynamics and replication program at the National Cancer Institute.
Mary Elizabeth Daucher is an American biologist serving as the acting chief of the vaccine production program laboratory at Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has the capability to enter a latent stage of infection where it exists as a dormant provirus in CD4+ T-cells. Most latently infected cells are resting memory T cells, however a small fraction of latently infected cells isolated from HIV patients are naive CD4 T cells.