What's New
September 2011
Obama Names Valeggia PECASE Award Winner
Conducted her PhD research at CNPRC
On September 26, 2011, President Barack Obama named Dr. Claudia R. Valeggia, who conducted her PhD research at the CNPRC, as one of 94 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Originally from Argentina, Valeggia came to UC Davis in pursuit of a PhD, receiving a MS (1995) and then a PhD in Animal Behavior (1996). At the CNPRC, under the direction of Dr. Sally Mendoza, CNPRC Staff Scientist in the Brain, Mind, and Behavior Unit, she investigated female reproductive biology, and the effects of pair-bond and social context on male-female interactions in titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch).
Reflecting on Valeggia’s time at the CNPRC, Mendoza states “I am proud of the accomplishments of all of my students, but Claudia is one of the best students I have had the opportunity of mentoring and I am in awe of the importance of the work she is doing for the women populating her study groups in the US, Central and South America.”
July 2011
Tenofovir Component of Successful Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention
Tenofovir (Viread), an antiretroviral HIV drug first shown by the CNPRC to be safe and effective in treating monkeys that were infected with SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus), has once again been used as the key ingredient in a pair of successful HIV prevention studies.
New Research Project Tests Cure for HIV
CNPRC researchers are taking part in a consortium that aims to find ways to eradicate HIV from the body.
Antiretroviral drugs allow people infected with HIV to control virus levels and maintain relatively good health, but with current treatments the virus is never fully eliminated from the body. This research study will aid in understanding where and how HIV survives in the body and how it might be eliminated, laying the basis for designing clinical trials of these novel therapies in individuals infected with HIV.
CNPRC scientists Paul Luciw and Koen van Rompay will carry out testing of novel therapies in rhesus monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which is genetically similar to HIV.
|