Viral Immunology

 vaccines

Developed Gibbon ape leukemia (GALV) based vectors and continue to work to improve the design of retroviral vectors to infect various progenitor cells. My lab studies emerging infectious diseases as represented by GALV a virus that comes from an endogenous murine retroviral source and jumped to gibbons, koalas (KoRV) and a woolly monkey (WMV). KoRV is a recently endogenized virus-sometime in the last 200 years and thus provides scientists with the opportunity to study early stages in retroviral endogenization.

HSV and EBV.  Vaccinology, immunology and pathophysiology in animals model

My group has interests in (i) HIV interaction with cofactors during the early phases of replication, (ii) dendritic cell transmission of HIV, (iii) DC-SIGN mediated virus transmission, and (iv) animal models for HIV pathogenesis and antiviral resistance.

I am currently Chief, Section on Viral Gene Regulation in the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics. My work focuses on the molecular biology of HIV-1 replication. We are investigating the function of the viral nucleocapsid and capsid proteins as well as the antiviral activity of A3G.

pathogenesis, and viral evasion of host defenses

Immunity and genetic resistance to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus and circovirus (PCV2) infections; innate immune responses to viral infection

B.S. Susquehanna University 2002, Ph.D. Wake Forest University 2008

Joined the LMMN in the NINDS in June of 2008

Dr. Roland A. Owens is Chief of the Molecular Biology Section in the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at NIH. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 1979.  He earned his Ph.D. in biology from The Johns Hopkins University in 1985.  His dissertation work with Dr. Philip Hartman involved studies of the export and protective effects of glutathione in bacteria.  Dr. Owens began his career at the NIH as a National Research Service Award Fellow in the Laboratory of Developmental Pharmacology in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development with Dr. Daniel Nebert, studying Cytochrome P450 induction.  In 1988 he received an Intramural Research Training Award Fellowship in the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to work with Dr. Barrie Carter. He became an independent researcher in 1992, was officially placed on the NIH intramural tenure-track in 1994 and was tenured in 1998.  Dr. Owens' current research focuses on adeno-associated virus type-2, a virus that is being developed as a vehicle for human gene therapy to treat diabetes, as well as many other diseases.  His group's identification of the DNA sequence bound by the replication proteins of adeno-associated virus has led to the current models for integration and gene regulation mediated by these proteins.  Dr. Owens is a co-inventor on two patents involving AAV gene therapy applications.  Dr. Owens served on the editorial board of Journal of Virology from 1997 to 2002.   He has been very active in the mentoring of minority scientists and in 2002 was selected as Mentor of the Year by the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholarship Program.  In 2008 he was appointed to the position of Assistant Director of the NIH Office of Intramural Research.

extramural program officer at Virology Branch, DMID

Have studied retroviruses since before they were "retroviruses"

Chief, Emerging Respiratory Viruses Section. Research interests: influenza, pandemic influenza, vaccine development, animal models, SARS