Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

Dr de Oliveira’s story does not end there. He is now workingin South Africa where he is investigating the use of geneticanalysis to identify networks of HIV-1 transmission. Specifi cally,he is studying how HIV-1 strains are transmitted in northernKwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The fi ndings will be integratedwith geographic and demographic data gathered over the past12 years and will help to enhance understanding of the causesand consequences of high-level HIV transmission in the area.He is also developing computer applications with Belgian andFrench researchers to classify HIV-1 strains and to supportthe clinical antiretroviral treatment of HIV-infected individuals.Dr de Oliveira has some words of wisdom for prospectiveMarie Curie Fellows, saying: ‘The identifi cation of the researchgroup is a crucial step and I advise prospective students tovisit the group before and during the preparation of the projectproposal.’ His reasoning for this is that ‘The two-year durationof an academic research project is a short time for an academicresearch project and in order to be productive the researchproject must be well defi ned in advance and the Fellow mustwork hard and stay focused.’Project acronymHIVOxfordFull project titleThe intra- and inter-evolutionary dynamics of HIVType of grantIntra-European Individual FellowshipBudgetEUR 162 448Duration of project01-12-2004 - 30-11-2006Scientific disciplineLife sciencesHost institutionZoology DepartmentUniversity of OxfordUK Head of DepartmentSouth Parks RoadGB-Oxford OX1 3PSE-mail: pharvey@zoo.ox.ac.ukAdmin e-mail: Robert.Greaney@admin.ox.ac.uk199