Dharam Ablashi is an American biomedical research

Biomedical research

Biomedical research , in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the body of knowledge in the field of medicine...

er born in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He is best known for his co-discovery of Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), an immunosuppressive

Immunosuppression

Immunosuppression involves an act that reduces the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immuno-suppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse reaction to treatment of other...

 and neurotropic virus

Neurotropic virus

A neurotropic virus is a virus which is capable of infecting nerve cells, or which does so preferentially. Such viruses thereby largely evade the usual immune response—which acts only within the blood system.- Terminology :...

 that can cause encephalitis

Encephalitis

Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis with meningitis is known as meningoencephalitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and fatigue...

 and seizure

Seizure

An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain". The outward effect can be as dramatic as a wild thrashing movement or as mild as a brief loss of awareness...

s during a primary infection or when reactivated from latency

Latency

Latency or latent may refer to:*Latency period , the time between exposure to a pathogen, chemical or radiation, and when symptoms first become apparent...

 in immunosuppressed patients. He has contributed more than 85 papers on HHV-6, most of which appeared in top medical journal

Medical journal

A public health journal is a scientific journal devoted to the field of public health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care . Public health journals, like most scientific journals, are peer-reviewed...

s. He is internationally known for his research on Human and Simian

Simian

The simians are the "higher primates" familiar to most people: the Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, , and the New World monkeys or platyrrhines. Simians tend to be larger than the "lower primates" or prosimians.- Classification and evolution :The simians are split into three groups...

 herpesviruses and has also been a major contributor to research in HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

, EBV

EBV

EBV may refer to:* Epstein-Barr virus, a virus of the herpes family* EBV infectious mononucleosis, mononucleosis caused by the Epstein-Barr virus* Escuela Bella Vista, an American school located in Maracaibo, Venezuela...

 and the field of immunovirology.

Ablashi is currently the Scientific Director of the HHV-6 Foundation. Prior to joining the HHV-6 Foundation, he was Director of Herpesvirus Programs at Advanced Biotechnologies and Coordinator of DNA Virus Studies at the National Cancer Institute

National Cancer Institute

The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...

. An Adjunct Professor in microbiology

Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...

 at the Georgetown University School of Medicine

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Georgetown University School of Medicine, a medical school opened in 1851, is one of Georgetown University's five graduate schools. It is located on Reservoir Road in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, adjacent to the University's main campus...

, he co-edited the book Human Herpesvirus 6 and has authored or co-authored over 300 journal articles on herpes viruses. He recently finished a term as President of the American Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or AACFS (which is now called IACFS/ME), which he co-founded . Ablashi also co-founded the International Association for Research on Epstein-Barr Virus and Associated Diseases and served for many years as Secretary, Treasurer and on the Board of Directors.

Background

Ablashi was born in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, India and earned his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at Panjab University Veterinary College. He then received his Diploma in Bacteriology

Bacteriology

Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...

 from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

For the singular of Ivrit , see Jewish.Indian Veterinary Research Institute or IVRI is located at Izzatnagar, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh state. It is India's premier advanced research facility in the field of veterinary medicine and allied branches. It has campuses at Mukteshwar, Bangalore,...

 before moving to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, where he earned his Master of Science degree in Pathology

Pathology

Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....

 and Virology

Virology

Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy...

 at the University of Rhode Island

University of Rhode Island

The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...

. After completing his post doctorate fellowship in the Department of Animal Pathology at the University of Rhode Island, Ablashi continued as a Research Associate at URI for one more year before working at Cobb Breeding Corporation as a microbiologist studying Marek's disease

Marek's disease

Marek's disease is a highly contagious viral neoplastic disease in chickens. It is named after József Marek, a Hungarian veterinarian. Occasionally misdiagnosed as an abtissue pathology it is caused by an alphaherpesvirus known as 'Marek's disease virus' or Gallid herpesvirus 2...

 of chickens and later at Flow Laboratories. In 1969, Ablashi became a researcher at the National Cancer Institute. In 1986, while working in Dr. Robert Gallo

Robert Gallo

Robert Charles Gallo is an American biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in the discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus , the infectious agent responsible for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome , and he has been a major contributor to subsequent HIV research.Gallo is the...

’s lab, Ablashi, S. Zaki Salahuddin and Gallo together discovered HHV-6, later found to cause Roseola

Roseola

Exanthema subitum , also referred to as roseola infantum , sixth disease and baby measles, or three-day fever, is a disease of children, generally under two years old, although it has been known to occur in eighteen year olds, whose manifestations...

, an infantile disease .

He retired from NCI in 1992, but continued serving as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 and as consultant to various biomedical companies as well as NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, W.H.O.

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

 and the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. In 1994 he became Senior Scientist and then Director of Herpesvirus Programs at Advance Biotechnologies, Inc before becoming Scientific Director of the HHV-6 Foundation.

In 2005, Ablashi established the first ever extensive HHV-6 & 7 repository of reagent

Reagent

A reagent is a "substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction, or added to see if a reaction occurs." Although the terms reactant and reagent are often used interchangeably, a reactant is less specifically a "substance that is consumed in the course of...

s at the HHV-6 Foundation with the help of generous biospecimen donations from his international colleagues . The Foundation makes these reagents available to any scientist and helps researchers interested in studying HHV-6 by offering pilot grants and consulting on HHV-6 matters.

Ablashi is also the co-inventor of four U.S. patents.

Recognition

Among the many distinguished awards received by Ablashi are the IACFS Rudy Perpich Memorial Achievement Award in 2007 , The Lifetime Achievement Award from the HHV-6 Foundation in Barcelona, Spain in 2006, and the Achievement Award from the HHV-6/HHV-7/HHV-8 International Conference in Paris, France in 2001.

Select Publications

• Krueger, G.R.F., Koch, B., and Ablashi, D.V. Persistent fatigue and depression in patients with antibody to human B-lymphotropic virus. Lancet 1:36, 1987
• Ablashi, D.V., Salahuddin, S.Z., Josephs, S.F., Imam, F., Lusso, P., Gallo, R.C., Hung, D., Lemp, J., and Markham, P.D. HBLV (or HHV6) in human cells. Nature 329:207, 1987
• Flamand L, Komaroff AL, Arbuckle JH, Medveczky PG, Ablashi DV. Human Herpesvirus-6: Basic Biology, Diagnostic Testing and Antiviral Efficiacy. J Med Virol 82, 1560-1568, 2010.
• Yao, K, Crawford JR, Komaroff AL, Ablashi DV, Jacobson S, Hman Herpesvirus-6 in Central Nervous System Diseases. J Med Virol. 82: 1669-1678, 2010.
• Ablashi DV, Devin CL, Yoshikawa T, Lautenschlager I, Luppi M, Kuhl U, Komaroff AL. Human Herpesvirus-6 in Multiple Non-Neurological Diseases. J Med Virol. in press 2010.
• Arbuckle JH, Medveczky MM, Luka J, Hadley SH, Luegmayr A, Ablashi D, Lund TC, Tolar J, De Meirleir K, Montoya JG, Komaroff AL, Ambros PF, Medveczky PG. The latent human herpesvirus 6A genome specifically integrates in telomeres of human chromosomes in vivo and in vitro. Proc Natl Sci USA. 107: 5563-5568. 2010.

Select Books

• Persistent Herpesvirus Infections. Current techniques for diagnosis. G.R.F. Krueger, D.V. Ablashi, and R.C. Gallo. J. Virological Methods, Volume 21, 1988.
• Human Herpesvirus-6: Epidemiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Pathology. D.V. Ablashi, G.R.F. Krueger, and S.Z. Salahuddin (editors), 1992. Published by Elsevier Science Publishers, B.V. Amsterdam-New York-Oxford.