Outline of Research

Carolyn Williamson is Professor and Head of Division of Medical Virology at the University of Cape Town.  She leads the HIV Diversity and Pathogenesis research group in the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town. Her laboratory was central to the initial elucidation of HIV-1 diversity in South Africa and has been one of the lead research groups to investigate the role of diversity in vaccine development and HIV pathogenesis.  Her current focus of research involves characterising the evolution of recently transmitted viruses in the context of host immune responses and disease progression; HIV transmission and viral escape; the impact of diversity on pathogenesis; as well as the implications of diversity on vaccine design.  She is also involved in characterising breakthrough infections in large vaccine and microbicide trials.  Carolyn is the principal investigator for projects funded by the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) and has designed and developed candidate DNA and MVA HIV vaccines which have undergone early clinical evaluation for safety and immunogenicity in the USA and South Africa.

Current funding:

• Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA)
• The National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF)
• The Poliomyelitis Research Foundation (PRF)
• The Centre for HIV AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI)
• The Collaborative Programme for Vaccine Discovery (CAVD)
  
• The National Institute of Health (NIH)
• The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN)
• Technology Innovation Agency (TIA)