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Harris Goldstein, M.D.

Professor, Department of Pediatrics (Pediatric Allergy & Immunology)

Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology

Associate Dean for Scientific Resources

Charles Michael Chair in Autoimmune Diseases

Director, Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS Research

HIV pathogenesis and HIV cure The immune system's antiviral activityEngineering molecules to attack virusesCAR-T cell structure and function Biologics against cancer and viruses

Dr. Goldstein’s NIH-funded research centers on developing agents to amplify the capacity of the immune system to control HIV infection and achieve a functional cure for the disease. In seeking to “weaponize” the immune system to cure HIV, his lab uses molecular, cellular, and biochemical approaches, including CAR-T cells and the novel treatment strategy developed by Dr. Almo at Einstein for selective T cell amplification called synTac (synthetic T-cell activation). read more...

Betsy Herold, M.D.

Professor, Harold and Muriel Block Chair, Pediatrics

Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health

Vice Chair, Research, Pediatrics, Einstein and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM)

Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Einstein and CHAM

Infectious diseasesHerpes simplex virusesCOVID-19 and pediatricsVaccines and antiviralsHIV

Dr. Herold directs a translational research program focused on the interactions between viruses and their host and using that knowledge to develop novel treatment and prevention strategies. Through her basic science studies, Dr. Herold has developed a unique candidate vaccine to prevent herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, which is being advanced for phase I clinical trials. Studies of this vaccine uncovered a previously unappreciated immune evasion strategy; this knowledge may accelerate the development of drugs to bolster vaccine and monoclonal antibody efficacy against a range of pathogens.

Her studies on HIV focus on the development of safe and effective pre-exposure prophylactic strategies for young women and on investigating how HSV interacts with HIV to reactivate HIV. Dr. Herold's team also has discovered a previously unrecognized phenomenon in cell biology in which HSV and other viruses activate a mechanism that helps them gain entry and infect healthy cells. This provides a novel target for the development of new antiviral drugs.

Most recently, her lab has studied why children respond differently and are relatively protected from severe COVID-19. Defining the differences in the immune response in children compared to adults will provide insights into protective immunity against this virus and future pandemic viruses.

Her clinical research focuses on infections in pediatric transplant recipients. Dr. Herold helped established and is co-chair of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Transplant Research Network (PIDTRAN), which supports and promotes projects to prevent and treat infectious diseases among child transplant recipients. Dr. Herold has served on the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council and on the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Council. She has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1989. Dr. Herold has over 180 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has presented her work internationally.

Ruth Macklin, Ph.D.

Distinguished University Professor Emerita, Epidemiology & Population Health

Dr. Shoshanah Trachtenberg Frackman Faculty Scholar in Biomedical Ethics

BioethicsMultinational researchEthics in reproductive healthBioethics of research involving human subjectsGlobal health

Dr. Macklin is considered one of the founders of the field of bioethics. In a career dating to the early seventies, Dr. Macklin has lectured and published widely on a variety of medical ethics topics, including research using human subjects, global health, stem cell research, reproductive health, public health ethics, end-of-life issues and HIV/AIDS. She is a past president of the International Association of Bioethics and currently serves on its board of directors. read more...