Dr. Denise Hsu is a physician scientist at MHRP. She joined the program in 2016 and was “drawn to the expansiveness of MHRP’s portfolio, which not only spans across multiple continents but also a breadth of research from prevention to treatment as well as cure.”
She was employed as a Research Physician and Head of the Department of Retrovirology’s Non-human Primate lab at MHRP’s partner site in Bangkok, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS). “I really enjoyed working at AFRIMS as my work was very diverse, spanning from laboratory bench work, animal studies to human clinical trials. I also loved living in Thailand, learning about and immersing myself in a different culture.”
In 2021, Dr. Hsu was promoted to Associate Director of Therapeutics at MHRP and relocated to the Bethesda offices. “My interactions with the Team at AFRIMS and SEARCH-IHRI have given me a good foundation, as my current role in the USA as the Associate Director of Therapeutics continues to involve regular interactions with the teams in Thailand.”
In her current role, Dr. Hsu conducts investigations into long term remission of HIV and strategies to achieve "functional cure," controlling the virus without the need for long term antiretroviral treatment. She’s heavily involved with MHRP’s RV254 acute infection cohort in Thailand, which serves as a foundation for trials to evaluate new therapies aimed at inducing long-term remission of HIV.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to coordinate the fantastic science that is generated from MHRP acute infection cohorts, to collaborate with external investigators and to plan trials evaluating cure strategies.”