HIVOXFORD · The Intra- and Inter- Host Evolutionary Dynamics of HIV
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2004-12-01 → 2006-11-30
- EU contribution
- €162,448
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- EIF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - HIVOXFORD (The Intra- and Inter- Host Evolutionary Dynamics of HIV)
For two years, from December 2004 to December 2006, the fellow Dr Tulio de Oliveira received extensive training in evolutionary biology from members of Oxford University's Department of Zoology. One of the main objectives of this project was to apply evolutionary methodology to the historical reconstruction of HIV / AIDS strains. This evolutionary technique was applied in the analysis of HIV-1 and HCV sequences from a hospital outbreak in Benghazi, Libya. The analyses demonstrated that the HIV-1 hospital outbreak was initiated in the mid 1990s. The date of the origin of the outbreak was of crucial importance to the public, since six foreign medical workers were accused of purposefully initiating the HIV-1 outbreak in 1998. The results of this analysis were published in 'Nature' (de Oliveira et al., 2006) and received worldwide public attention. The publication, journal editorials and journalist reports were attached in HIVOXFORD final activity report.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This research proposed involves a comprehensive and ground-breaking analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of the immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the causative agent of AIDS. Central to this project is the analysis of the different modes of virus evolution wi thin individual patients and the evolution of the virus within an infected population. Although these temporal scales are related, there is good reason to believe that the evolutionary process differs fundamentally within and among hosts, although to date this has not been properly investigated. The main objective of the project is to determine the similarities and differences between HIV evolutions on an intra- and inter- host level, the relative strength genetic drift and natural selection at this level, of how these shape the evolution of HIV in the long-term, and from this to create a unified model of HIV evolutionary dynamics. Another key objective of the project is to develop computational methods and computer software to measure the evolution, fixati on rate, and fitness effect of HIV mutations. The objectives will be achieved by using a number of different methodical processes to analyse a variety of sequence data sets either extracted from public databases or generated in collaborative projects. The fellowship program will result in the training of a Portuguese scientist by one of the world leading groups on the field of viral evolution. This top quality training will provide the scientist with an understanding of the processes involved in shaping the evolution of the virus in a given population. The training will also equip him with the tools needed for the creation of mathematical models, and bioinformatics software used in the analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of HIV. This research will assist i n the development of effective drugs and vaccines to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and will increase European competitiveness in the novel field of bioinformatics and molecular phylogenetics.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD · OXFORDCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union