Rate My Professor Saikat Boliar

Saikat Boliar, PhD, serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology within the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo since 2024. He holds a PhD in Virology from the University of Kentucky (2009) and a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (BVSc&AH, equivalent to DVM) from West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (2004). His career trajectory includes Assistant Research Professor at Cornell University (2022-2024), Senior Research Associate (2020-2022), and Research Associate (2015-2019) in Microbiology and Immunology there. Previously, he was a Scientist at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)-IAVI HIV Vaccine Design Program (2012-2015) and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Emory Vaccine Center (2009-2012).

Boliar's academic interests center on infectious diseases, molecular and cellular biology, retroviruses, RNA biology, translational research, viral pathogenesis, and virology. His research elucidates HIV-1 virus-host interactions enabling viral latency and persistence under antiretroviral therapy. Current projects characterize HIV-1 reservoirs in lung alveolar macrophages from long-term treated patients, explore active viral transcription therein, and investigate long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as host factors for HIV-1 replication and latency, positioning them as potential therapeutic targets. He utilizes molecular virology, immunology, and genomics in ex vivo and in vitro models to pinpoint HIV-1 cure vulnerabilities. Notable publications encompass "Inhibition of the lncRNA SAF drives activation of apoptotic effector caspases in HIV-1-infected human macrophages" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019), "Lnc(ing)RNAs to the “shock and kill” strategy for HIV-1 cure" (Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, 2021), "HIV-1 active and latent infections induce disparate chromatin reorganization and transcriptional regulation of mRNAs and lncRNAs in SupT1 cells" (mBio, 2023), and "A gut check: understanding the interplay of the gastrointestinal microbiome and the developing immune system towards the goal of pediatric HIV remission" (Retrovirology, 2024). Boliar has earned awards such as the NIH Early Career Reviewer Program (2023), HIV Research for Prevention Conference Full Scholarship (2014), and Geoffrey C. Hughes Fellowship (2007). As principal investigator, he leads an NIAID grant totaling $2,915,905 for investigating virologic and immunologic impacts of HIV-1 persistence in alveolar macrophages (2024-2029).