Stefan Sarafianos

Stefan Sarafianos holds the Nahmias-Schinazi Distinguished Professor endowed chair at Emory University, where he serves as Associate Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology. He also serves as Co-Director of the B-HIVE U54 Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Since 1993, he has published >185 manuscripts in retroviral structural biology, biochemistry, and virology. The structures solved through his collaborations are seminal in the field of HIV drug resistance and DNA polymerases. His lab develops novel inhibitors and characterizes their mechanisms of inhibition and resistance. Notably, his work with EFdA has resulted in >25 publications and licensing by Merck.

Dr. Sarafianos was the first to provide a structural model for the SARS-CoV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and express, purify, and characterize the SARS Co-V RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Since 2003, his work with coronaviruses has focused on discovery of antivirals that block RNA unwinding and viral entry. Recently, his lab has focused on developing tools for extensive screening and mechanistic characterization of inhibition, drug resistance, and basic biology of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2.