| Lynn Morris, DPhil, is a Chief Specialist Scientist and Head of the AIDS
Unit at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg. She holds a joint appointment at the
University of the Witwatersrand and is actively involved in research and teaching pertaining to HIV. She received her
Bachelor's and Honours degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand and obtained her DPhil at the University of Oxford in
England. She studied macrophage biology while at Oxford, examining aspects such as developmental biology, hematopoiesis and
suface receptors on macrophages. This was followed by a three-year post-doctaral fellowship at the Walter end Eliza Hall
Institute in Melbourne, Australia, where she examined cellular immunity, particularly the role of cytokines in the response to
the human parasite Leishmania major.
At the NICD she has been involved in the genetic and biologic characterization of HIV-1 subtype
C strains and the immune responses of subtype C infected individuals. In 1997 she took a year's sabbatical at the Aaron
Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York where she examined antibody and B cell function in persons receiving highly active
anti-retroviral therapy. Since returning she has developed a number of new reseach projects. |
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One of her major areas of
interest is the envelope glycoproteins of HIV-1 agents, including antibodies, that can inhibit this interaction.
More recently she has developed a program to examine HIV-1 drug resistance,
particularly in the setting of the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.
She has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including a Robert and Cicily Wahl
Scholarship (South Africa), a Florey Fellowhip from the Royal Society (UK), a James Gear Fellowhip (South Africa) and a Wellcome
Trust (UK) Senior Research Fellowship in Biomedical Science. She has published over 50 scientific articles, reviews and
commentaries. Her research group includes three PhD students, two MSc students, six Research Assistants and four Technologists.
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