Eva Harris
Encyclopedia
Eva Harris is a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley
, and the founder and president of the Sustainable Sciences Institute. She focuses her research efforts on combating diseases that primarily afflict people in developing nations.
in 1987 and a PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993.
, pathogenesis
, and epidemiology
of dengue fever
, the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease in humans. Harris' lab studies the mechanism of dengue virus infection of human dendritic cells. The lab is also developing a mouse model to study viral tropism
and the immune response to dengue virus infection, to generate a better model of the disease. Harris' fieldwork focuses on molecular and epidemiological
field studies of dengue in endemic Latin American countries, particularly in Nicaragua
. Ongoing fieldwork projects include clinical and biological studies of severe dengue, a pediatric cohort study
of dengue transmission in Managua
, and a project on evidence-based, community-derived interventions for prevention of dengue via control of its mosquito
vector. Harris is currently initiating studies of dengue pathogenesis
in humans, focusing on functional characterization of antibodies and B cell memory response, host gene expression profiling, and viral factors such as quasispecies. Harris is also collaborating with investigators at the UC Berkeley College of Engineering
to develop the ImmunoSensor: a novel, rapid, low-cost diagnostic device for point-of-care diagnosis of dengue and other infectious diseases. She served as co-director of the "International Training and Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases" program at the Fogarty International Center from 1997 to 2003.
She has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles.
Her group has developed an animal model for dengue virus infection and disease that effectively emulates the pathology seen in humans. In particular, the critical problem of the dengue virus infection, called "Antibody-Dependent Enhancement" (ADE), is reproduced in this animal model. When a person who was previously infected with one serotype of dengue virus is later infected by a different serotype, the antibodies produced by the immune system can lead to increased severity of the second dengue infection, instead of controlling it. ADE, as a result, can lead to severe dengue disease or dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
Using computer modeling, the company noted that it had developed a library of small chemical ligands that bind to dengue virus envelope proteins. Using these ligands, a number of candidate nanoviricides that are capable of attacking the dengue virus have been developed. The company believes that these nanoviricide drug candidates mimic the natural, common attachment function by which the four different dengue virus serotypes bind to the body's host cells.
in resource-poor settings. In 1997, Harris received a MacArthur Fellowship for her pioneering work over the previous ten years developing programs, and for working to build scientific capacity in developing countries to address public health and infectious disease issues. To continue and expand this work, Harris founded the Sustainable Sciences Institute in 1998, a San Francisco-based international nonprofit organization
that works to improve public health in developing countries, by building local capacity for scientific research on infectious diseases. The Sustainable Sciences Institute partners with researchers in developing countries, offering assistance and mentoring to help them excel in their fields of research.
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and the founder and president of the Sustainable Sciences Institute. She focuses her research efforts on combating diseases that primarily afflict people in developing nations.
Education
Harris received a BA in biochemical sciences from Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1987 and a PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993.
Career
After a post-doctoral fellowship and Assistant Adjunct Professorship at the University of California, San Francisco, Harris joined the faculty at UC Berkeley. There, she developed a multidisciplinary approach for studying the virologyVirology
Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy...
, pathogenesis
Pathogenesis
The pathogenesis of a disease is the mechanism by which the disease is caused. The term can also be used to describe the origin and development of the disease and whether it is acute, chronic or recurrent...
, and epidemiology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
of dengue fever
Dengue fever
Dengue fever , also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles...
, the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease in humans. Harris' lab studies the mechanism of dengue virus infection of human dendritic cells. The lab is also developing a mouse model to study viral tropism
Tropism
A tropism is a biological phenomenon, indicating growth or turning movement of a biological organism, usually a plant, in response to an environmental stimulus. In tropisms, this response is dependent on the direction of the stimulus...
and the immune response to dengue virus infection, to generate a better model of the disease. Harris' fieldwork focuses on molecular and epidemiological
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
field studies of dengue in endemic Latin American countries, particularly in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. Ongoing fieldwork projects include clinical and biological studies of severe dengue, a pediatric cohort study
Cohort study
A cohort study or panel study is a form of longitudinal study used in medicine, social science, actuarial science, and ecology. It is an analysis of risk factors and follows a group of people who do not have the disease, and uses correlations to determine the absolute risk of subject contraction...
of dengue transmission in Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
, and a project on evidence-based, community-derived interventions for prevention of dengue via control of its mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
vector. Harris is currently initiating studies of dengue pathogenesis
Pathogenesis
The pathogenesis of a disease is the mechanism by which the disease is caused. The term can also be used to describe the origin and development of the disease and whether it is acute, chronic or recurrent...
in humans, focusing on functional characterization of antibodies and B cell memory response, host gene expression profiling, and viral factors such as quasispecies. Harris is also collaborating with investigators at the UC Berkeley College of Engineering
UC Berkeley College of Engineering
The College of Engineering is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. The College of Engineering is ranked second in the nation, after MIT, according to the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings; It houses one of the most highly regarded and prestigious...
to develop the ImmunoSensor: a novel, rapid, low-cost diagnostic device for point-of-care diagnosis of dengue and other infectious diseases. She served as co-director of the "International Training and Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases" program at the Fogarty International Center from 1997 to 2003.
She has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles.
Dengue virus research
Harris most recently entered into a research agreement with NanoViricides, or NNVC. Under this agreement, Harris and coworkers will evaluate the effectiveness of NanoViricides' drug candidates against various dengue viruses. Cell culture models, as well as in vivo animal studies will be employed for testing the drug candidates. The company believes that a nanoviricides drug under development can be expected to conceive a broad-spectrum, anti-dengue antiviral treatment, capable of attacking all four dengue virus serotypes and their variant strains. Currently, there are no approved vaccines for the prevention of dengue, nor are there drugs for treatment of dengue virus infection. The worldwide market size for an effective anti-dengue treatment may be as large as that for Hepatitis C virus treatment, or in the billions of dollars, based on current population exposure data.Her group has developed an animal model for dengue virus infection and disease that effectively emulates the pathology seen in humans. In particular, the critical problem of the dengue virus infection, called "Antibody-Dependent Enhancement" (ADE), is reproduced in this animal model. When a person who was previously infected with one serotype of dengue virus is later infected by a different serotype, the antibodies produced by the immune system can lead to increased severity of the second dengue infection, instead of controlling it. ADE, as a result, can lead to severe dengue disease or dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
Using computer modeling, the company noted that it had developed a library of small chemical ligands that bind to dengue virus envelope proteins. Using these ligands, a number of candidate nanoviricides that are capable of attacking the dengue virus have been developed. The company believes that these nanoviricide drug candidates mimic the natural, common attachment function by which the four different dengue virus serotypes bind to the body's host cells.
Humanitarian work
While volunteering overseas, Harris noted the lack of resources available to her local peers. Knowing that the technologies and resources needed existed in the developed world, but were unavailable where they were most needed, inspired her to introduce molecular diagnostic techniques and scientific literacyScientific literacy
Scientific literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories.-Definition:...
in resource-poor settings. In 1997, Harris received a MacArthur Fellowship for her pioneering work over the previous ten years developing programs, and for working to build scientific capacity in developing countries to address public health and infectious disease issues. To continue and expand this work, Harris founded the Sustainable Sciences Institute in 1998, a San Francisco-based international nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that works to improve public health in developing countries, by building local capacity for scientific research on infectious diseases. The Sustainable Sciences Institute partners with researchers in developing countries, offering assistance and mentoring to help them excel in their fields of research.
Awards and honors
- 2002 Pryytanean Faculty Award for outstanding women faculty
- 2002 Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum
- 2002 national recognition award from Minister of Health in Nicaragua for contribution to scientific development
- 2001 Pew Scholar for her work on dengue pathogenesis
- 1997 MacArthur Fellows ProgramMacArthur Fellows ProgramThe MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
for her scientific capacity building work
Publications
- A Low Cost Approach to PCR: Appropriate Transfer of Biomolecular Techniques, Editor Nazreen Kadir, Oxford University Press US, 1998, ISBN 9780195119268
External links
- "Straight talk from... Eva Harris", Nature Medicine 13, 1132 (2007)
- "A CONVERSATION WITH Eva Harris; How the Simple Side of High-Tech Makes the Developing World Better", The New York Times, CLAUDIA DREIFUS, September 30, 2003
- "Conversations with History" Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
- Conversations with History: Making Science Accessible, with Eva Harris