Nazira El-Hage, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Her research focuses on mechanisms underlying HIV pathology and the interlinked epidemics with opioid drug abuse in the central nervous system (CNS).
The El-Hage lab, located in Academic Health Center 1, also examines the role of neuroimmune signaling in the CNS in relation to drug misuse and behavior in HIV-positive subjects.
Contact Us
For information about our lab or undergraduate research opportunities, please contact us at nelhage@fiu.edu.
About the lab
The El-Hage lab is testing novel treatments to mitigate complications of HIV infection in the CNS and to minimize the neurotoxicity induced by long-term use of antiretroviral therapy. Using a non-invasive methodology for drug delivery, we showed that intranasal delivery of siBeclin1-encapsulated with an anionic-fluorescent labeled liposome was safe and effectively delivered in brain of adult mice.
Current studies using HIV-infected mouse model is investigating the efficacy of BECN1 gene silencing as an anti-inflammatory and anti-HIV therapy in brain reservoirs.
Lab Members
Myosotys Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
305-348-7656
myrodrig@fiu.edu
AHC1 417B
Florida Owens, Ph.D.
Research Assistant
Candy Carjabal, Ph.D.
Research Assistant
Dileepkumar Veeragoni
Postdoctoral Associate
dveerago@fiu.edu
AHC1 313