He received his doctorate in Immunology and Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University in 2009, received postdoctoral training at the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and joined the faculty of USciences in 2014. Dr. Klase’s research program focused on the molecular pathogenesis of HIV-1, with a particular emphasis on cure research. He has expertise in examining the intricacies of chromatin modification at the integrated provirus, and his laboratory has developed new tools to visualize the chromatin landscape as it relates to viral latency. His Avenir application is focused on examining how drugs of abuse may alter the epigenetic landscape in HIV-1 infected individuals.