Clinical Neurovirology

Avindra Nath Dr. Nath is the Chief of the Section of Infections of the Nervous System at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. He was previously Professor in the Department of Neurology and Director of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections at Johns Hopkins University. His career has been dedicated to studying the clinical manifestations, pathophysiology and developing treatment for brain infections since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic. He has traveled to several countries to study these infections including Liberia during the Ebola epidemic. He teaches medical students, residents and clinical fellows on CNS infections for which he has received several teaching awards. He frequently talks at grand rounds, seminars and conferences around the world on viral infections of the brain and has been teaching courses on viral encephalitis at the American Academy of Neurology for over 20 years. His laboratory research is focused mainly on retroviral infections particularly HIV infection. More recently, his laboratory is studying the pathophysiology of Ebola and Zika viruses. He is the past President of the International Society of Neurovirology (ISNV) and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians. He is the recipient of the Pioneer award from the ISNV and the Wybran award from the Society of Neuroimmune Pharmacology. Joseph R. Berger Dr. Berger, M.D., is Professor of Neurology and Associate Chief of the Multiple Sclerosis Division of the Department of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His career has been dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment and investigation of neuroinfectious and neuroinflammatory disorders. His foray into neuroinfectious diseases started with the investigation of the neurological complications of HIV/AIDS while at the University of Miami at the inception of the AIDS pandemic and an endowment there established the Whigham-Berger Endowed Chair, the first endowed chair for the study of the neurological complications of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Berger continued his research in HIV and PML while at the University of Kentucky where he was Chairman of the Department of Neurology from 1995 to 2013. With Dr. Robert Levy, he co-founded and co-chaired the international Neuroscience of HIV conference. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association. Among his many awards are the Pioneer Award from the International Society of Neurovirology and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Neurological Association.

INTRODUCTION: EPIDEMIOLOGY, SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT, AND CHALLENGES AHEAD. Introduction to virus structure, classification, replication, and hosts. Neuropathogenesis of viral infections. An approach to pathogen discovery for viral infections of the nervous system. Neuropathology of CNS viral infections and the role of brain biopsy in the diagnosis. DNA VIRUSES. Herpes simplex viruses. Varicella zoster virus infection. Epstein–Barr virus and the nervous system. Cytomegalovirus. Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Adenovirus. RETROVIRUSES. HIV neurological complications. Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). RNA VIRUSES. Rabies and other lyssaviruses. Neurological manifestations of West Nile virus. Chikungunya virus and Japanese encephalitis virus. Arthropod-borne virus encephalitis. Enteroviruses. Measles and its neurological complications. Rubella. Influenza neurologic complications. Nipah encephalitis, a fatal encephalitis with bats as reservoir. MISCELLANEOUS. Von Economo’s encephalitis. Neurological events following immunizations. Central nervous system viral infections complicating immunosuppression. Post-viral syndromes. Viral neuro-oncogenesis: Polyomaviruses and brain tumors. Autoimmune disorders that can be mistaken for viral illness. Antiviral therapeutics for viral infections of the central nervous system. Neurological manifestations of coronavirus infections