Howard S. Fox, MD, PhD, Lab

Techniques used in the laboratory

• Cell biology
• Molecular biology
• Proteomics
• Virology
• Immunology
• Neurobiology
• Small and large animal models
• Transcriptomics (global mRNA and miRNA profiling)

Funding

Chronic HIV Infection and Aging in NeuroAIDS (CHAIN) Center
MPI: Fox, H and Buch, S
NIH/NIMH  5 P30 MH062261
The goal of this project is to provide administrative and core support for scientists investigating NeuroAIDS.

NNTC Data Coordinating Center
PI: Fox, H
NIH/NIMH U24 MH100925
The NNTC has served as a valuable resource to the NeuroAIDS research community since 1998. Its continuation is critical given the need for quality CNS tissues and related antemortem clinical data. For this grant, I serve as the leader of the Steering Committee which determines direction and policy to serve investigators using these resources (a consortium of four brain banks) to examine emerging research topics in the NeuroAIDS field such as: a) eradication of HIV from persistent CNS reservoirs; b) pathogenic mechanisms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) in setting of long term HAART; and c) HIV and aging. Furthermore, we are responsible for all the data obtained clinically on the subjects and experimentally on the specimens, and are the interface between requesting scientists and the brain bank sites.

Great Plains IDeA-CTR
NIH/NIGMS 1U54GM115458-01
PI: Rizzo M; Co-Director: Fox H
This is a grant to support clinical and translational research at UNMC and partner institutions in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. Dr. Fox directs the Pilot Project program.

The brain as a SIV reservoir under suppressive cART potentiation by drugs of abuse
NIH/NIDA: 1 R01 DA043164-01 
MPI: Fox H/Buch S/Byrareddy S
Using the SIV/macaque system, we will determine whether the brain is a viral reservoir in the setting of effective treatment and will measure the effect of two commonly used drugs of abuse, morphine and methamphetamine, on the brain reservoir. Mechanisms by which drug abuse affect the viral reservoir will be examined, thus leading to strategies to target this reservoir to effect a cure in those with and without substance abuse.

Uncovering HIV/opioid effects in the brain at the single cell level: transcription, chromatin accessibility, and reservoir analysis in the SIV/cART/morphine/rhesus monkey model
MPI: Fox, H and Buch, S
NIH/NIDA 1 U01 DA053624
A comprehensive interdisciplinary approach proposed to support the Single Cell Opioid Responses in the Context of HIV (SCORCH) Program Expansion. We will perform studies on the interplay of HIV pathogenesis and opioid abuse in the gold-standard SIV/nonhuman primate system, using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to assess individual cellular transcriptomes. This help us obtain unparalleled insight into the viral and drug-induced effects on diverse cell types in the brain in regions critical for HIV infection and opioid abuse. In addition, we will also focus on primary targets of HIV and drivers of neuropathogenesis, microglia and brain macrophages, using scRNA-seq as well as single-cell Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin sequencing (scATACse-q) to gain insight into the epigenetic regulation of gene expression at the single cell level. These will be combined with state-of-the-art sensitive assays for virus in the brain. The results from these studies will provide novel insights into the CNS effects of HIV and drug abuse.