It has been two months since our last update. The lab has been exceptionally busy. Tobi Gopon joined our group in mid-October and we have hosted two rotating graduate students from the UW-Madison Department of Pathology. In terms of progress, our first grant, an NIH R24, was awarded late in September. Our lab's first paper was published in the Journal of Immunology. Yesterday, I submitted an invited review article to the new journal Future Virology. I taught several classes throughout October and culminated the month by serving on an NIH study section in Washington DC.

We have also been conducting our first SIV infection trial with Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques. As of now, we are six weeks into the infection and learning new things each and every day.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

Since returning from Brazil, the lab has been a hotbed of chaotic activity. Kendall departed to take a job in Chicago, Ben started chiropractor school, Justin began graduate school, and Jason returned to his undergraduate studies. A new crop of talented and capable researchers have been hired to take their place. Nathan Vakharia and Roger Wiseman are already contributing to the productivity of the lab. An eager set of rotating graduate students are circulating through the lab this fall, and we may take one if the fit is right.

We've also received good news on several research fronts. Our Journal of Immunology manuscript on Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques is now in press, while our first studies using these animals are slated to begin in early October. I've been furiously writing grants to help subsidize these preliminary experiments!

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

Another month in the O'Connor lab is in the books. We expanded to 4.25 members this month, held our first lab meetings, submitted two grant proposals and one revised manuscript, purchased our first Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques, and participated in educational outreach programs with South Africa.

The pace should relax a little during July. I am participating in the 3rd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Brazil. After the meeting, my wife and I are spending 10 days on the island of Fernando de Noronha.

In other exciting lab news, Kendall Krebs will be leaving us in August when he moves to Chicago. He is going to continue HIV/AIDS research in the lab of our collaborator, Steven Wolinsky.

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A section on work opportunities within the lab is now available. In addition to describing the types of employment within the lab, the page describes the lab philosophy and our expectations for its workers.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

Our lab submitted its first manuscript for peer-review today. While we have been involved in many publications, this is the first one led by Dr. O'Connor. Now we'll keep our fingers crossed and wait the 4-?? weeks until it is peer-reviewed (or returned to us without review right away!).

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Welcome to the inaugural website of David O'Connor's laboratory. We are members of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Our laboratory plans on studying the pathogenetics of AIDS infection, though right now we are preoccupied with equipping the laboratory and making it functional.

We recently presented results at the 2005 Seattle International Conference on Primate Genomics. A pdf of our presentation is now available.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings