Robert F. Siliciano

Siliciano is leading the struggle to cure HIV infection. Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) controls HIV replication, it is not curative, and patients progress to AIDS if they stop ART. Siliciano discovered the reason why - a latent form of HIV that persists indefinitely even in patients on optimal ART. Thus patients must remain on ART for life. This latent reservoir is widely considered the major barrier to cure and is the focus of an intense international research effort that Siliciano has led through the development of quantitative approaches for measuring the reservoir and efficacy of curative interventions.