Ethan W. Taylor, PhD, University of Georgia*

The Taylor laboratory focuses on a broad range of topics ranging from structural bioinformatics, molecular modeling and drug design, to applied molecular biotechnology, nanotechnology and virology. The lab has demonstrated that the genomic complexity of some viruses is greater than previously thought such as the existence and function of several novel viral proteins encoded in â??hiddenâ? genes of HIV-1. These findings indicate the role of dietary antioxidants, and the trace mineral selenium in particular, in modulating viral pathogenesis. Additionally, the lab is interested in developing novel mechanistic approaches for treating HIV and other viral infections such as blocking HIV's detrimental effects in the body rather than targeting the virus itself and eliminating HIV-infected cells. In collaboration with other labs, the Taylor lab is studying the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) as targets for the development of angiogenesis inhibitors, based on molecular modeling of the protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions involved to understand the angiogenesis inhibition in ocular diseases.

*Now affiliated with University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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