Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Vinayak Prasad

World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Biography

Dr Vinayak M Prasad, Programme Manager, leads the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) and is responsible for the overall coordination of tobacco control programme in WHO HQ, including liaison with WHO Regions and with the Convention Secretariat to WHO-FCTC.

Research Interest

Dr. Prasad’s long-standing interest in HIV lies in the early events of HIV-1 replication, and his laboratory has now expanded into other aspects of HIV replication. They are interested in the structure-function of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). Recent work from the laboratory has outlined the role of a critical residue in the polymerase domain that increases the propensity of HIV-1 RT to make errors during DNA synthesis. Furthermore, they are interested in understanding functional interactions of HIV-1 RT with other viral and cellular proteins with a view to generating a better picture of the overall intracellular setting in which reverse transcription proceeds upon infection. Their newer areas of interest also include assembly and budding of HIV-1.

Publications