CORRECTION:    The defense date is Thursday, November 29
>
>> Dissertation Defense Announcement
>> To:  The George Mason University Community
>>
>> *Candidate: Todd W. Hawley
>> Program:    PhD Biosciences*
>>
>> *Date:   Thursday November 29, 2012
>> Time:   11:00 a.m.
>> Place:  George Mason University
>>            Krasnow Institute Conference Room
>>            Fairfax Campus 
>> <http://www.gmu.edu/resources/welcome/Directions-to-GMU.html>*
>>  
>> Committee Chair: Dr.  Yuntao Wu
>> Committee members: Dr. Ancha Baranova, Dr. Geraldine Grant, Dr. 
>> Harold Morowitz
>>
>> *Title: "Discovery and Mechanism of Action of Cyclonucleoside 
>> Anti-HIV Activity"*
>>
>> The dissertation is on reserve in the Johnson Center Library, Fairfax 
>> campus.
>> The doctoral project will not be read at the meeting, but should be 
>> read in advance.
>>
>> All members of the George Mason University community are invited to 
>> attend.
>>
>>
>> *ABSTRACT:*
>> Over 30 million people worldwide are currently infected with HIV, and 
>> even after nearly 30 years of research, an effective cure or vaccine 
>> has yet to be found. Given this fact, it is a high priority to 
>> discover and develop novel small molecule anti-retrovirals that 
>> preferably target cellular proteins or a new step in the HIV life 
>> cycle.  With this in mind, a novel anti-HIV drug screen utilizing 
>> live virus was developed and used to screen reagents.  A subsequent 
>> drug screen led to the discovery of the novel anti-HIV activity of 
>> cyclonucleoside compounds.  Further studies revealed that the 
>> mechanism of action of these compounds on HIV was likely due to the 
>> inhibition of deoxynucleotide metabolic pathways, causing 
>> deoxynucleotide pool imbalances leading to lethal mutagenesis in both 
>> HIV DNA and RNA synthesis.
>>
>>  ###