Marin Science Seminar Presentation: “Is HIV Infection Impossible to Cure?” We will describe how HIV infects its host cells and the molecular targets of current anti-HIV drugs.  We will discuss why it has not been possible to cure HIV infection or to develop a vaccine against it, and how one might cure AIDS.  We will also discuss briefly the challenges of doing scientific research in the United States, and how one might overcome these difficulties. (October 15, 2008)

Dr. Duzgunes received his BS in Physics from Middle East Technical University in Ankara Turkey and his PhD in Biophysical Sciences from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Duzgunes is currently Professor and Chair of Microbiology at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, and director of a research laboratory working on the therapy of oral cancer and HIV/AIDS. Prior to joining the Dugoni School of Dentistry, Düzgünes worked at the University of the California, San Francisco as a National Cancer Institute Posdoctoral Fellow and was on the research faculty there until 1991. He also served as an adjunct associate professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF.