Dr. Charles Wood

Molecular Virologist
Nebraska Center for Virology

Charles Wood is founding director of the Nebraska Center for Virology and Lewis Lehr/3M University Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).

During the past 12 years, Dr. Wood has developed research, training and outreach programs in Zambia that are focused on HIV/AIDS and related diseases. Zambia, a peaceful nation in sub-Saharan Africa, is ground zero in the AIDS epidemic. HIV infection among Zambian women of childbearing age in urban areas ranges from 16 to 30 percent, and mother-to-child transmission has been estimated to be as high as 30 to 39 percent. The challenge in Zambia is to improve and extend the lives of those individuals already infected with HIV/AIDS – and to prevent the further spread of HIV. Dr. Wood’s work on HIV has grown into an internationally-recognized program that includes research on:

• Interaction and transmission of HIV and human herpesvirus-8;

• Evolution of the HIV subgroup C and its correlation to disease progression;

• Detection of drug resistant viruses in the studied population and monitoring of anti-viral treated individuals for the presence of resistant viruses;

• Determination of the link between HIV infection, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and the development of cervical carcinoma, and

• Identification of HPV genotypes.

Dr. Wood’s scientific research is complemented by training activities to help produce a cadre of well-skilled health professionals in Zambia who can make an impact on public health and medical research in their country.