(Philadelphia,
PA) - William J. Swiggard, MD, PhD, has been
named Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious
Diseases, at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine.
After receiving a BS in Chemistry from George Mason
University, Dr. Swiggard went on to complete his education
at The Rockefeller University in New York, earning a
PhD in Immunology in 1995. In 1996, he obtained his
medical degree from Cornell University Medical College.
Dr. Swiggard served his internship, residency and Infectious
Diseases fellowship at the Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Swiggard's research focuses on the latency problem
in HIV disease. Current HIV medications must be taken
for life. When they are stopped, even after years of
successful therapy, high levels of virus return to the
bloodstream. A major reservoir of treatment resistant
virus is in resting CD4+ T cells. Dr. Swiggard is attempting
to determine where the "blocks" are in the
HIV life cycle that permit the virus to establish non-productive
or latent infection in these resting T cells. This work
may lead to new therapies aimed at reducing or eradicating
viral reservoirs.
He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
He is the recipient of several awards and honors including
the Robert Austrian Award for academic excellence in
Infectious Diseases and the Pfizer Award for excellence
in Infectious Diseases, both from the University of
Pennsylvania. He is a member of several professional
and scientific societies such as the Infectious Diseases
Society of America, the American College of Physicians,
the American Medical Association, and the Pennsylvania
Medical Society.
Dr. Swiggard has also authored or co-authored research
papers in publications including Cell, Journal of
Virology, Nature, Immunology, and Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
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