Lawrence Corey

Lawrence Corey (b. February 14, 1947), Professor of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington,  is an American physician-scientist and an internationally recognized expert on infectious diseases. His discoveries have been recognized as having advanced the understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of diseases caused by viruses, especially human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpesviruses. These investigations included the development and testing of experimental vaccines for genital herpes and HIV, and developing new methods for diagnosing and monitoring therapies for viral infections.

Corey received a B.A. (1967) and M.D. (1971) from the University of Michigan, and received postgraduate training at the University of Michigan, University of Washington, and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to his professorships at the University of Washington, Corey is currently principal investigator of the U.S. HIV Vaccine Trials Network, head of the University of Washington’s Virology Division, and head of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Program in Infectious Diseases.

Research
Corey’s early research dealt with various areas of virology, including identification of diagnostic methods for genital herpes and participation in development of effective treatments. Between 1988-1998, Corey published a series of key studies showing the association between infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and HIV-1 ,

These studies led to pilot and large sale clinical trials of anti-HSV-2 therapy to reduce HIV acquisition and transmission Corey also published landmark papers showing the effectiveness of acyclovir in the treatment of genital herpes ,

His current work includes the coordination of clinical trials sites and laboratories for Phase 1-3 trials of HIV vaccines. He continues to do research in defining persistent reservoirs of HIV infection, prevention of CMV and HHV-6 infections in immunocompromised hosts, epidemiological studies of the relationship between HSV and HIV infection, and, in general, development of new technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of viral infections.

Honors
Dr. Corey is a member of the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine. He is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and a member of the American Epidemiological Society, American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. In addition, he is the recipient of the Pan American Society’s Clinical Virology Award, the American Society for STD Research’s Parran Award, and the University of Michigan Medical School’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Selected works
Casper C, Krantz E, Selke S, Kuntz S, Wang J, Huang ML, Pauk JS, Corey L, Wald A (2007) Frequent asymptomatic mucosal replication of human herpesvirus 8 in immunocompetent men, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 195 (30-36). Lazaro CA, Chang M, Tang W, Campbell J, Sullivan DG, Gretch DR, Corey L, Coombs RW (2007) Hepatitis C virus replication in transfected and serum-infected cultured human fetal hepatocytes, The American Journal of Pathology, 170 (478-489).

Zerr DM, Meier AS, Selke SS, Frenkel LM, Huang ML, Wald A, Rhoads M, Nguy L, Bornemann R, Morrow RA, Corey L (2005) A population-based study of primary human herpesvirus 6 infection, The New England Journal of Medicine, 352, 768-776.

Corey L, Wald A, Patel R, Sacks SL, Tyring SK, Warren T, Douglas JM Jr, Paavonen J, Morrow RA, Beutner KR, Stratchounsky LS, Mertz G, Keene ON, Watson HA, Tait D, Vargas-Cortes M; Valacyclovir HSV Transmission Study Group (2004) Once daily valacyclovir to reduce the risk of transmission of genital herpes, The New England Journal of Medicine, 350, 11-20.

Klausner RD, Fauci AS, Corey L, Nabel GJ, Gayle H, Berkley S, Haynes BF, Baltimore D, Collins C, Douglas RG, Esparza J, Francis DP, Ganguly NK, Gerberding JL, Johnston MI, Kazatchkine MD, McMichael AJ, Makgoba MW, Pantaleo G, Piot P, Shao Y, Tramont E, Varmus H, Wasserheit JN (2003) The need for a global HIV vaccine enterprise, Science, 300, 2036-2039.

Wald A, Langenberg AGM, Link K, Izu A, Ashley R, Warren T, Tyring S, Douglas JM, Corey L (2001) Effect of condoms on reducing the transmission of herpes simplex virus type-2 from men to women, JAMA, 285, 3100-3106

Wald A, Zeh J, Selke S, Warren T, Ryncarz AJ, Ashley R, Krieger JN, Corey L (2000) Reactivation of genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection in asymptomatic seropositive persons, The New England Journal of Medicine, 342(12), 844-50

McElrath M J, Corey L, Greenberg P D, Matthews T J, Montefiori D C, Rowen L, Hood L, Mullins JI (1996). Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection despite prior immunization with a recombinant envelope vaccine regimen, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 93(9), 3972-7.