WebmedCentral Editor
View all WebmedCentral Editors
 
No Image

Dr. Levon Abrahamyan

Assistant Porfessor and Senior Scientist
Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Science Charles University, BioCev
 

Brief Biography:


Employment history 2010 – present: Research Assistant Professor, Nebraska Center for Virology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA. Research: Molecular biology of virus-host interactions. Subtype C HIV-1 pathogenesis, transmission, disease progression and drug resistance. Teaching: Advanced Viral Pathogenesis and Medical Molecular Virology (both are graduate courses). 2007 – 2009: Senior Scientist / Research Associate. IRCM (Clinical Research Institute of Montreal), Laboratory of Human Retrovirology, Montreal, QC, Canada. Research: Functional role of viral accessory protein (Vpr) in HIV-1 replication and pathogenesis. Vpr-induced cell cycle arrest. Host restriction factor(s) of HIV-1 infection in macrophages. 2004 – 2007: Research Associate. Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, AIDS Center, McGill University, HIV-1 RNA Trafficking Lab, Montreal, Canada. Research: Viral RNA trafficking, HIV-1 assembly, Interaction between host proteins and viral ribonucleoprotein complexes. Biochemical, confocal and electron microscopy studies of viral RNA transport, Gag assembly and virus budding. 2000 – 2004: Instructor/Research Scientist. Molecular Biophysics & Physiology Department, Rush University, Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. Research: Virus entry into the cells (especially – HIV-1, SIV, ALV, influenza), virus-cell and cell-cell fusion mediated by Env; Virus entry inhibitors and kinetics of inhibition. Biochemical, immunochemical and confocal microscopy studies of virus-cell and cell-cell fusion. 1997 - 2000: Head of General and Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Department of Biology, Industrial University of Santander – one of the best Universities in South America, Colombia. Teaching: General Genetics, Genetics of Populations, Molecular Biology. Research: 1. The epidemiology of cervical cancer and PCR for HPV screening regarding diagnostic cytopathology. 2. Genetic variability in the Colombian horse population based on STR variation. 3. Anthropogenetic study of Santander State, Colombia. 4. Genetics of dilated Cardiomyopathy. (Collaborator – Dr. C.I. Vargas, Genetics Lab). 1995 - 1997: Titular (Full) Professor. Head of the Scientific Research Centre "Zuncilla" (Tropical Rain Forest Region, Genetic Resources). University of Amazonia, Colombia. Teaching experience: General Biology and Biomathematics (graduate course). Research: Discovery and classification of tropical rain forest genetics resources. 1994 - 1995: Senior Research Scientist, Dr. of Science (post-doctoral degree). Dept. of Embryogenetics, Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Research: Transgenic Animals. Biology of Oncogenes. Expression of bacterial genes for threonine synthesis (essential amino acid) in mammalian cells and production of threonine-independent transgenic animals. 1992 - 1993: Senior Research Scientist, "Pharmagen" Scientific Industrial Venture, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia. Research: Biotechnological research aimed at protein, enzymes productions; construction of expression vectors, gene cloning, bacterial super-producer strains for biotechnology. 1990 - 1994: Research Scientist, Group Leader at Molecular Enzymology Lab, Institute of Molecular Biology, Armenian Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia. Research: Biology of the Oncogenes and Long Terminal Repeats of Retrotransposons.

 

Academic positions:


Education 1/1994-12/1995: Doctor of Science. Institute for Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. 9/1986-12/1990: Ph.D. Student. Dept. of Cytology and Genetics, Biological Faculty, Yerevan State University and Virus Genetics Lab, Institute of General Genetics, Moscow (ex-USSR). Ph.D. in Genetics (1990). Research and Thesis: DNA repair and replication in human lymphocytes treated with chemical mutagens and antimutagens. 9/1981- 7/1986: B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biology with emphasis in Genetics. Dept. of Cytology and Genetics, Biological Faculty, Yerevan State University and Virus Genetics Lab, Institute of General Genetics, Moscow (ex-USSR).

 

Research interests:


HIV pathogenesis, virus-host interactions, HIV transmission, antiretroviral drugs, virus entry, virus-cell fusion, virus entry inhibitors, HIV evolution, HIV drug-resistance, host restrcition factors.

 

Any other information:


Language skills Armenian, English, Russian, Spanish - all fluent. French – basic level.

 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


It is a great idea.