Hahn

Beatrice H. Hahn, M.D.

Professor of Medicine

Phone: 205-934-0412

E-mail: bhahn@uab.edu

Dr. Hahn attended the University of Munich Medical School, Germany, where she received her M.D. degree in 1981 and her Doctorate in Medicine, studying Bovine Leukemia Virus, in 1982. After internship, also at the University of Munich, she did a post-doctoral fellowship in human retroviruses and their associated diseases at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, between 1982-1985. She joined the UAB faculty in 1992 and is currently Professor of Medicine and Microbiology. She has a secondary appointment as Senior Scientist in the Comprehensive Cancer Center and is the Associate Director for Program in Development and Resources in the Center for AIDS Research.

Dr. Hahn's laboratory has a long-standing interest in elucidating the origins and evolution of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses and in characterizing HIV/SIV gene function and disease mechanisms from an evolutionary perspective. Dr. Hahn was the first to describe the extensive in vivo genetic variability of HIV-1, which is now recognized as the source of drug and immune escape mutants. She also reported the first attenuated HIV-2 strain, provided phylogenetic evidence for the sooty mangabey origin of HIV-2, and discovered that recombination between highly divergent viruses represents a major driving force of HIV and SIV diversification. More recently, Dr. Hahn's group discovered the origin of HIV-1 in west central African chimpanzees, and, with her collaborators at the Los Alamos National Laboratories, provided a time estimate for the onset of the HIV-1 group M pandemic. These findings led to new insights into the zoonotic origins of HIV and a heightened awareness of the extent and diversity of SIV infection in African primates. Most recently, Dr. Hahn’s team developed non-invasive methods to detect and characterize SIVcpz infection in wild chimpanzees and with her collaborators conducted the first comprehensive survey of primate bushmeat for SIV infection. Developing and testing a consensus sequence concept for AIDS vaccines is a current focus of Dr. Hahn’s laboratory.

Selected Publications

Gao, F., Yue, L., White, A.T., Pappas, P.G., Barchue, J., Hanson, A.P., Greene, B.M., Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. Human infection by genetically diverse SIVsm-related HIV-2 in West Africa. Nature 358:495-499, 1992.
Robertson, D.L., Sharp, P.M., McCutchan, F.E. and Hahn, B.H. Recombination in HIV-1. Nature 374:124-126, 1995.
Sharp, P.M., Bailes, E., Stevenson, M., Emerman, M. and Hahn, B.H. Gene acquisition in HIV and SIV. Nature 383:586-587, 1996.
Gao, F., Bailes, E., Robertson, D.L., Chen, Y., Rodenburg, C.M., Michael, S.F., Cummins, L.B., Arthur, L.O., Peeters, M., Shaw, G.M., Sharp. P.M. and Hahn, B.H. Origin or HIV-1 in the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Nature 397:436-441, 1999.
Korber, B., Muldoon, M., Theiler, J., Gao, F., Gupta, R., Lapedes, A., Hahn, B.H., Wolinksy, S. and Bhattacharya, T. Timing the ancestor of the HIV-1 pandemic strains. Science 288:1789-1796, 2000.
Hahn, B.H., Shaw, G.M., Sharp, P.M. and De Cock, K.M. AIDS as a Zoonosis: scientific and public health implications. Science 287:607-614, 2000.
Santiago, M.L., Rodenburg, C.M., Kamenya, S., Bidollet-Ruche, F., Gao, F., Bailes, E., Meleth, S., Soong, S.-J., Kilby, J.M., Moldoveanu, Z., Fahey, B., Muller, M.N., Ayouba, A., Nerrienet, E., McClure, H.M., Heeney, J.L., Pusey, A.E., Collins, D.A., Boesch, C., Wrangham, R.W., Goodall, J.,Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. SIVcpz in wild chimpanzees. Science 295:465, 2002.
Gaschen, B., Taylor, J., Yusim, K., Foley, B., Gao, F., Lang, D., Novitsky, V., Haynes, B., Hahn, B.H., Bhattacharya, T. and Korber, B. Diversity considerations in HVI-1 vaccine selection. Science 296:2354-2360, 2002.
Worobey, M., Santiago, M.L., Keele, B.F., Ndjango, N., Joy, J.B., Labama, L., Dhed'a, D., Rambaut, A., Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. The Kisangani expeditions: Disproving the OPV/AIDS theory. Nature 428:820, 2004.
Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. Simian immunodeficiency virus infection of chimpanzees. J. Virol., 79:3891-3902, 2005.

Phone: 205-934-0412

E-mail: bhahn@uab.edu

Selected Publications

Gao, F., Yue, L., White, A.T., Pappas, P.G., Barchue, J., Hanson, A.P., Greene, B.M., Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. Human infection by genetically diverse SIVsm-related HIV-2 in West Africa. Nature 358:495-499, 1992.

Robertson, D.L., Sharp, P.M., McCutchan, F.E. and Hahn, B.H. Recombination in HIV-1. Nature 374:124-126, 1995.

Sharp, P.M., Bailes, E., Stevenson, M., Emerman, M. and Hahn, B.H. Gene acquisition in HIV and SIV. Nature 383:586-587, 1996.

Gao, F., Bailes, E., Robertson, D.L., Chen, Y., Rodenburg, C.M., Michael, S.F., Cummins, L.B., Arthur, L.O., Peeters, M., Shaw, G.M., Sharp. P.M. and Hahn, B.H. Origin or HIV-1 in the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Nature 397:436-441, 1999.

Korber, B., Muldoon, M., Theiler, J., Gao, F., Gupta, R., Lapedes, A., Hahn, B.H., Wolinksy, S. and Bhattacharya, T. Timing the ancestor of the HIV-1 pandemic strains. Science 288:1789-1796, 2000.

Hahn, B.H., Shaw, G.M., Sharp, P.M. and De Cock, K.M. AIDS as a Zoonosis: scientific and public health implications. Science 287:607-614, 2000.

Gaschen, B., Taylor, J., Yusim, K., Foley, B., Gao, F., Lang, D., Novitsky, V., Haynes, B., Hahn, B.H., Bhattacharya, T. and Korber, B. Diversity considerations in HVI-1 vaccine selection. Science 296:2354-2360, 2002.

Worobey, M., Santiago, M.L., Keele, B.F., Ndjango, N., Joy, J.B., Labama, L., Dhed'a, D., Rambaut, A., Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. The Kisangani expeditions: Disproving the OPV/AIDS theory. Nature 428:820, 2004.

Sharp, P.M., Shaw, G.M. and Hahn, B.H. Simian immunodeficiency virus infection of chimpanzees. J. Virol., 79:3891-3902, 2005.