Joshua T. Schiffer, MD, MSc
Professor
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutch
Professor
Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutch
Member
Translational Data Science Integrated Research Center (TDS IRC), Fred Hutch
Dr. Joshua Schiffer is an infectious disease physician and researcher who develops mathematical models to address significant medical challenges. A major focus of his work is to analyze strategies to achieve an HIV cure in people who require antiviral drugs for their entire lifetime, due to reservoirs of latent virus. These models assess the potential of a wide variety of potential curative technologies. Dr. Schiffer and colleagues also use mathematical modeling to study how T cells help control numerous herpes viruses that cause disease in healthy people and in cancer patients with compromised immune systems. They develop models to explain when and how latent viruses reactivate and use models to optimize the effectiveness of antiviral drugs. His team is also focusing on COVID-19, including developing models of the immune response against the coronavirus and the best treatment strategies.
Other Appointments & Affiliations
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of WashingtonAssociate Professor, Department of Medicine
University of Washington
Attending Physician, Infectious Disease Consulting Service
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Education
MS, Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2009
MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2002
Research Interests
Describing the quantitative and dynamical features of human pathogens and immune responses
Pathogenesis of HSV-2 infection
Applying models to optimize viral eradication strategies, and to use models to capture kinetic features of the human microbiome
Current Projects
HIV Cure
Herpes Simplex Virus-2 Dynamics
Tissue Resident T Cells
Viral Dynamics in Infants
Microbiome Dynamics
Viral Infections in Cancer Patients