Welcome to the O'Connor lab website. We enjoyed a very successful end to 2006. Two papers from our lab were published back-to-back in the Journal of Virology, Roger Wiseman is finalizing a review article for Transplantation Reviews, and Shelby O'Connor is preparing a paper for submission to Immunogenetics. Meanwhile, other members of the lab are pursuing projects including the adoptive transfer of immunity between SIV-infected monkeys, improving tools for studying macaque genetics, and conducting pilot experiments with Affymetrix GeneChips. Three rotating graduate students helped with these projects during the fall semester and at least one of these students will be joining our laboratory in the spring. We look forward to a productive and exciting 2007.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

Welcome to the O'Connor lab website. The last few weeks have been very good to our lab. The Journal of VIrology accepted two manuscripts detailing the relationship between monkey genetics and SIV infection. Roger Wiseman described some of these results at the Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS meeting in Atlanta, GA. Shelby and Dave also attended. All three even had a chance to do some sightseeing at the Georgia Aquarium and CNN center. The lab also obtained its first HIV research sample from a volunteer in Madison. Dave is busy reviewing grants, teaching classes, and generally making a nuisance of himself.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

After several months, I am finally able to edit this webpage from my laptop! With my newfound freedom, I will...um...I guess I don't have much to say right now. We currently have two papers under consideration by the Journal of Virology and are keeping our fingers crossed. As for me, a return trip from New York last week took nearly 12 hours, giving me and my trusty ipod plenty of time to contemplate the larger issues confronting the world, such as 'when and where did kool recruit his gang?' and 'have I always been blind to the quality of early Phil Collins records?'.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

The summer is coming to an end, and with it comes the annual immigration and emigration of lab personnel. This month we say goodbye to Tobi Gopon and Jason Wojcechowskyj who will be spending the next year overseas. We hope to welcome two to three new lab personnel this fall, including at least one graduate student. If you are a CMB, CMP, or MBTG graduate student interested in my lab, please take a moment to read my graduate student philosophy and consider whether my lab might be a good fit for you.

This has been a terrific summer for research productivity. We prepared two manuscripts for consideration by the Journal of Virology and received approval to conduct HIV research in conjunction with UW-Hospitals and Clinics. Researchers in the lab successfully developed new assays for virus sequencing and genetic testing. We purchased animals for an exciting new vaccine research project and began working with outside labs to help characterize the genetics of their research animals. Hopefully we can continue this momentum into the fall and winter.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

Wow, it's been several months since the last web page update. The lab has grown dramatically in the last few months. We received a new NIH award to study SIV pathogenesis in genetically defined monkeys and are currently waiting to hear about another manuscript under submission. The lab now has six full-time members and two undergraduates, plus me. We plan on accepting rotating graduate students from the both the CMB and Pathology graduate programs this fall, so if you are reading this and considering labs, please look at my graduate student philosophy.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings

It was one year ago this week that Kendall Krebs and I first set foot in my new lab. Our first experiment came about 10 days later, on 2/25/05. Since then, we have grown dramatically -- what started as just the two of us is now me, a lab manager, a PhD student, three technicians, and an undergraduate researcher (even though the website doesn't reflect this reality yet). Our ambitions and goals scaled with our size, we are now characterizing the genetics of different macaque populations, undertaking SIV pathogenesis trials in macaques, initiating HIV research in conjunction with UW-Madison clinicians, and toying with the idea of becoming more involved with HIV preexpoosure prophylaxis research. Phew. Quite a year. On another note, I'd like to welcome any prospective CMB or CMP graduate students who are browsing my website. Madison is a terrific city and the UW-Madison is an outstanding institution for advanced study.

File Under: Laboratory Happenings