Prof. Andrew Harman is an Associate Professor in Applied Medical Sciences with the University of Sydney. Prof. Harman is a mucosal immunologist and virologist and carries out his research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research where he is the Deputy Director for the Centre for Virus Research. Prof. Harman runs two research groups; one investigating sexual transmission of HIV and other investigating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). What is unique about his research groups is that they carry out all their research using discarded human tissues from surgery. They have access to every human tissue that HIV may encounter during sexual transmission in both a healthy and inflamed state, as well intestinal tissue affected by IBD. They have determined the full array of HIV target cells present within these tissues that form the actual portals of HIV entry, with a particular focus on mononuclear phagocytes (dendritic cells, macrophages and Langerhans cells). Importantly, Prof. Harman and his group have determined which subsets preferentially take up HIV and transmit it CD4 T cells, including a previously undescribed dendritic cell subset present in the epidermis of the vagina, foreskin, and anal canal.
