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Blackard, Jason PhD
Division: Digestive Diseases
Title: Assistant Professor
Education: Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health, 2000
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, BS in Biology and Spanish, 1994
Training: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, Research Fellow, 2002-2005
Clinical Interests:
Research Interests: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive-strand RNA virus that infects over 170 million people worldwide. Multiple studies have demonstrated the adverse effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection on liver fibrosis, HCV RNA levels, HCV disease progression, and response rates to HCV treatment. The mechanisms by which these two viruses interact remain unclear, as no direct virus-virus interactions have been demonstrated to date. Because of the inability to infect small animals with HCV and the lack of efficient cell culture models, much of the current understanding of HCV pathogenesis has been inferred from studies of infected human samples.
Using a variety of cell culture, immunologic, and molecular virology techniques, as well as patient-derived samples, we are investigating the pathogenic and evolutionary mechanisms by which viruses interact with the host and cause disease. Current work in the laboratory involves studies of several hepatitis viruses, including hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis E (HEV), and hepatitis G (HGV/GBV-C), as well as HIV.
Ongoing research projects include: 1) characterizing the extent of extrahepatic replication of HCV and development of models of HCV replication; 2) HIV replication in hepatocytes and the development of novel in vitro systems of HIV/HCV co-infection; 3) genotypic and phenotypic characterization of hepatitis viruses, particularly in the context of HIV co-infection.
Recent Publications:
Blackard JT, Hiasa Y, Smeaton L, Jamieson DJ, Rodriguez I, Mayer KH, and Chung RT. 2007. Compartmentalization of hepatitis C virus (HCV) during HCV/HIV coinfection. Journal of Infectious Diseases 195(12):1763-1773.
Blackard JT, Kang M, St. Clair JB, Lin W, Kamegaya Y, Sherman KE, Koziel MJ, Peters MG, Andersen J, and Chung RT. 2007. Viral factors associated with cytokine expression during HCV/HIV co-infection. Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research 27(4):263-270.
Blackard JT and Sherman KE. 2007. Hepatitis C virus co-infection and superinfection. Journal of Infectious Diseases 195(4):519-524.
Shire NJ, Rouster SD, Stanford SD, Blackard JT, Martin CM, Fichtenbaum CJ, and Sherman KE. 2007. The prevalence and significance of occult hepatitis B virus in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 44(3):309-314
Blackard JT, Kang M, Sherman KE, Koziel MJ, Peters MG, and Chung RT. 2006. Effects of HCV treatment on cytokine expression during HCV/HIV coinfection. Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research 26(11):834-838.
Notes:
Email: Jason.Blackard@uc.edu
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