Ronald Luftig, PhD

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	Ronald Luftig, PhD Professor and Head, Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology 1901 Perdido St Room 6206 New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: 568-4063 Fax: 568-2918 rlufti@lsuhsc.edu
Degrees	PhD - 1967 University of Chicago
Bio	The Luftig laboratory is currently involved in the following research: A vaccine has been issued for HIV-1 based on prophylaxis with killed protease defective immature particles Patent with Immune Response Corporation). Biodepuration of Vibrio vulnificus from raw oysters using a unique Mr: 22,000 protein and a sentinel study of HEV in clams captured from Lake Pontchartrain (In collaboration with Drs. William Pelon and Kenneth Johnston, funded by NOAA). Gene therapy using enteric Adenovirus 41 as a gutless vector to deliver genes to intestinal regions (patent issued for Dr. Luftig; collaboration with Dr. Jay Kolls and the Gene Therapy Group).
Research Interests	AIDS pathogenesis Gene therapy, construction of vectors for
Selected Publications	Hickman PJ, Leigh JE, Mera RM, Fidel PL Jr, Luftig RB, Oropharyngeal candidiasis in HIV(+) patients may influence the selection of HIV-1 protease variants, Virus Res 87:97-106, 2002. Prakash O, Mason A, Luftig RB, Bautista AP, Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections in alcoholics, Front Biosci 7:286-300, 2002. Visona, K, Baez, F, Taylor, L, Berrios, R, Leon, B, Pacheco, C, Jiron, R, Luftig, RB, and Somarriba, MM, Impact of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections in a hematology-oncology unit at a children's hospital in Nicaragua, 1997 to 1999, Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 9:622-626, 2002. Horikoshi, H, Kinomoto, M, Sasao, F, Mukai, T, Luftig, RB, and Ikuta, K, Differential susceptibility of resting CD4(+) T lymphocytes to a T-tropic and a macrophage (M)-tropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is associated with their surface expression of CD38 molecules, Virus Res 73:1-16, 2001.
Additional Info	Publications at PubMed

Professor and Head, Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology