Researchers/Supervisors
Eric Hunter
SANTHE Consortium Steering Committee Member
Emory Vaccine Center, Georgia, United States/Rwanda Zambia Health Research Group (RZHRG), Kigali, Rwanda
Eric Hunter is a scientist whose research focuses on the molecular virology and pathogenesis of retroviruses, particularly HIV. His work centers on HIV transmission, with a focus on the genetic bottleneck that occurs during heterosexual transmission and the selection of viral variants with specific biological traits at the mucosal surface.
He has contributed to understanding how factors such as genital inflammation, viral replicative fitness, and host immune pressures influence transmission, early viral evolution, and disease progression. His research also examines how viral adaptation to cellular immune responses affects immune recognition and long-term control of HIV following infection.
He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, reviews, and book chapters, and has received multiple NIH merit awards for his work in retrovirology and HIV molecular biology.
In addition to his research, he has served as Editor-in-Chief of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and has held advisory roles in HIV vaccine research for the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as serving on various editorial boards and scientific advisory committees globally.