This is an excerpt of an article originally posted on the website for Simon Fraser University (SFU).
By Sarah Campbell
Much is known about how HIV evolves and adapts to the human immune system during untreated infection, but in order to one day find a vaccine or cure, more knowledge is needed about the landscape of viruses lying dormant in the bodies of infected people, even when strictly adhering to antiretroviral therapy.
Natalie Kinloch, a PhD student in the SFU Faculty of Health Sciences and a Student Research Assistant with the BC-CfE, hopes her research will contribute to this knowledge. Kinloch is one of six students from SFU who have been awarded the 2019 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, a prestigious award supporting the research of highly qualified doctoral students.
Kinloch’s conducts research in conjunction with the BC-CfE Laboratory Program, under the direction of BC-CfE Laboratory Program Director and SFU Associate Professor Director Dr. Zabrina Brumme.
The research focusus on HIV genetic diversity and evolution with the goal of informing the design of both an HIV vaccine and cure.
“Right now, we’re focused on characterizing the viruses of the latent HIV reservoir that are hiding dormant in an infected person’s body and prevent HIV from being cured,” says Kinloch. “This work will give us a better understanding of the attributes of the viruses that must be targeted by any intervention hoping to achieve an HIV cure.”
TheVanier Canada Graduate Scholarshipsupports only 166 doctoral students across Canada each year, recognizing those students who demonstrate leadership skills and exemplary scholarly achievement.
Needless to say, Kinloch was ecstatic to learn she had been selected and it still has not fully sunk in yet.
“I feel so honoured to have won this award; such a prestigious scholarship could really open doors for me in the future and will allow me to focus exclusively on my research for the next few years!”
Kinloch has been with the SFU Faculty of Health Sciences since 2010, completing a BSc (Honours) in Health Sciences before pursuing graduate studies. During her time working on her undergraduate honours thesis in Brumme’s lab, she looked at the genetic diversity and evolution of HIV over the course of the epidemic in North America as relevant to the development of an HIV vaccine. It was through this experience that Kinloch decided to continue in research.
“I quickly realized how much I loved research and how meaningful it can be to be part of a wider community of people all putting their heads together to try to help others around the world.”