Bruce Walker’s research is focused on learning from patients to define mechanisms of immune system control of chronic viral infections, with an emphasis on those who control HIV infection in the absence of antiviral therapy. Through an international collaboration, Walker and his team are investigating the immunologic, virologic, and host genetic mechanisms that account for this phenotype. They are applying their discoveries to prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine development, and to define specific antiviral responses of various subsets of immune cells. Walker also directs population-based research studies on HIV infection at South Africa’s Nelson Mandela School of Medicine.
HHMI-supported scientists have spent decades at the forefront of HIV and AIDS research. From the early days of the AIDS epidemic to the latest advancements in research, these profiles showcase the dedication and innovation of researchers who have shaped the field. In 2008, HHMI Investigators Bruce Walker and William R. Jacobs, Jr. made an unusual ask to the HHMI Board of Trustees: funding for a facility to revolutionize AIDS treatment in an area where the virus still raged, Durban, South Africa. Bruce D. Walker, an HHMI Investigator since 2002, had been a practicing physician in the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic, before the virus even had a name. But the virus ultimately defined his career. Brief summaries of the research carried out by the 12 patient-oriented researchers selected by HHMI in 2002