New grant solidifies future of HIV research at DU
Professor uses superresolution imaging to better understand virus assembly
Schuyler van Engelenburg, assistant professor of biology, was awarded an R01 grant in May 2018 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) totaling $1.7M to be paid out over a five-year period. van Engelenburg’s research for NIAID aims to identify human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) growth patterns, specifically investigating how new particles are born.
Using superresolution microscopic imaging, his lab can view deep into virus cells down to individual proteins. His paper on the incorporation of host-cell proteins in the assembly of HIV-1 lattice structures was published in Nature Communications in May 2018, citing three student lab members as co-authors including two graduate students and one undergraduate.
Schuyler continues to attract attention as a top-in-his-field researcher by funding partners. This grant builds upon a previous R21 award for $413,000 from NIAID, and in 2016, Schuyler was the first DU faculty member to receive the Web-Warring Biomedical Research Award from the Boettcher Foundation given annually to early-career investigators working in human health research in Colorado. As a Boettcher Investigator, he received over $250,000 to fund his research on viral vectors and the delivery of genetic material to cells in therapeutic applications.
