About

Dr. Margolis’ research group has a long history of translational HIV research: investigating basic molecular, virological, and immunological phenomenon, and leveraging insights to develop new interventions in HIV disease. While his work has involved many aspects of HIV science and medicine, for more than two decades a central focus has been the study of molecular mechanisms of HIV proviral latency and persistence despite potent antiretroviral therapy (ART). They have defined the role of epigenetic factors in the restriction of HIV expression, and this has led to diverse, multidisciplinary collaborations and translational clinical studies resulting in discovery and high-impact work. He is the principal investigator for CARE (Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication), an NIH-funded research organization that seeks to develop the tools to bring an HIV cure from the bench to the clinic. He is the principal investigator of NIH-funded studies combining immunotherapies (antibody-like molecules or antiviral T cell infusions) and small-molecule anti-latency agent (HDAC inhibitor) in FDA-approved investigations to attempt to precisely document the depletion of persistent HIV infection. Finally, he directs the UNC HIV Cure Center, created to support novel and impactful research needed to advance towards therapies to induce an HIV remission.

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2022
• Member, Association of American Physicians (AAP), 2019
• Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers, 2019, 2020
• Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill, 2018
• Tim Gill Visiting Professor, University of Colorado at Denver, 2013
• M. Glenn Koenig Visiting Professor, Vanderbilt Univ. School of Medicine, 2011
• William J. Way award for HIV medicine, Duke Univ. School of Medicine, 2005
• Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), 2005
• 5th International Workshop on HIV Drug Resistance & Treatment Strategies award, 2001
• Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), 1998
• Infectious Diseases Society of America, Ortho-MacNeil Young Investigator, 1997
• National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Young Investigator, 1996
• Fellow, American College of Physicians (ACP), 1996
• NIH Physician-Scientist (K-11) Award, 1991
• Clinical Associates award, American College of Physicians, 1988
• Magna Cum Laude, Harvard College, 1981

In the news

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  New Trial Highlights Incremental Progress Towards a Cure for HIV-1

  Antiretroviral therapies (ART) stop HIV replication in its tracks, allowing people with HIV to live relatively normal lives. However, despite these treatments, some HIV still lingers inside cells in a dormant state known as “latency.” If ART is discontinued, HIV will awaken from its dormant state, begin to replicate, and cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). … Read more

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  IAMIGHID: Spotlighting the HIV Cure Team

  HIV/AIDS has been around for approximately 40 years, but many researchers say the end is in sight. The question is, will it be in our lifetime or just around the corner? This is a spotlight on the HIV CURE Center, comprising approximately 55 researchers and students, featuring David Margolis, MD, the director, Nancie Archin, PhD, a … Read more

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  NIH awards HIV Cure Center $26.2 million over next 5 years

  The National Institutes of Health has awarded approximately $53 million in annual funding over the next five years to 10 research organizations in a continued effort to find a cure for HIV. The new awards for the Martin Delaney Collaboratories for HIV Cure Research program, initiated in 2011, further expand the initiative’s 2016 renewal from six institutions to … Read more

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  Researchers reverse HIV latency

  Overcoming HIV latency – induction of HIV in CD4+ T cells that lay dormant throughout the body – is a major step toward creating a cure for HIV. For the first time, scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill, Emory University, and Qura Therapeutics – a partnership between UNC and ViiV Healthcare – have shown that a new … Read more

Education