The Chair of the Department is Kamel Khalili, PhD – an internationally recognized researcher who is Co-founder of the International Society of NeuroVirology and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of NeuroVirology.
Author of two textbooks on viral oncology and human polyomaviruses – and more than 470 peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Khalili has held numerous leadership positions at Temple since joining the faculty in 1999. He is the Laura H. Carnell Professor and founding Director of the Center for Neurovirology and Gene-Editing; Director of the NIH-funded Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center; and founding Chair of the former Department of Neuroscience.
Dr. Khalili received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and completed postdoctoral training at the Wistar Institute and the National Cancer Institute of NIH. He has studied the neuropathogenesis of human viruses, particularly HIV-1, for more than 35 years. Since 2012 he and his team have created and used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to eliminate HIV-1 DNA from cells and tissues in HIV-infected small animal models, including HIV-1 humanized mice. Then, in a major step forward in 2020, in the first experiment of its kind, the team used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing – a single infusion – to successfully eliminate simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the primate equivalent of HIV, from the genome of a large animal model, with no off-target effects. As detailed in Nature Communications, the breakthrough brings us closer than ever to developing a cure for the approximately 36 million people living with HIV, a virus that integrates itself into the host’s genome, becoming part of the fabric of their DNA in the infected cells, beyond the reach of antiretroviral therapy (ART).
The success of this work led Temple University into partnership with Dr. Khalili and colleagues in a startup company called Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc. The company has secured significant investor financing to advance CRISPR-based gene editing to a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in patients with chronic HIV infection, pending FDA approval. The funding will also enable Temple scientists and Excision to investigate CRISPR-based technology for its potential to cure other viral diseases, including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and herpes simplex virus.
“The essence of our work is collaborative, and our success has been the result of the combined efforts of individuals both here at Temple University and a number of outstanding institutions elsewhere,” says Dr. Khalili.
Dr. Khalili- also studies pathological realms associated with neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, neuroproliferation and neuroinflammation, as detailed here.
He has maintained a strong record of NIH and other grant funding throughout his career and has trained more than 43 MD-PhD and PhD candidates and more than 75 postdoctoral fellows, senior investigators, and junior faculty. Dr. Khalili has instituted a strong mentoring program within the department and strives for diversity and inclusivity with faculty, students, and lab personnel.