May 28, 2020
Dr. Bility works with humanized
mouse models to investigate
infectious viruses like HIV.
He explains his microbiology work by sharing with
listeners
- The inspirational background for recapitulating human disease study with a new paradigm,
- How these humanized mouse models with human organ systems and immune systems are developed, and
- Their recent ability to control HIV in these mouse models that may enable vaccine development.
Moses T. Bility, Ph.D., is
Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the
School of Public Health and the University of Pittsburgh.
In this conversation he explains how Stephen Hawking's theory of
model-dependent realism inspired his approach to studying
infectious viruses. In an effort to rethink the paradigm that
can explain and predict human disease in a more effective way, he
works with rodent models that are humanized. He explains the
technique for introducing human organ systems in mice, including
the liver, hypothalamus, kidney capsule, skin, and the whole immune
system.
This realigns how a microbiology
lab can analyze
infectious viruses, from HIV to Covid-19. Dr. Bility describes
his current investigation, namely in HIV interaction with
macrophages and iron. Macrophages are multifunctional cells that
play a role in maintaining tissue integrity and initiating an
immune response.
He describes how they developed a humanized mouse model with a
human spleen and studied the model to see what allows the HIV virus
to persist and how they could affect the virus. They had an
exciting outcome, namely that they were able to control HIV in
their mouse model. They now will do some machine learning and other
studies to see how they can design a vaccine around their findings
in terms of controlling the virus.
For more, see his faculty page at https://publichealth.pitt.edu/home/directory/moses-bility.