Viviana Simon is a Professor of Microbiology at the

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eight ...

(ISMMS). She is a member of the ISMMS Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute. Her research considers viral-host interactions and the mode of action of retroviral restriction factors. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Simon developed an antibody test that can determine immunity to

Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Early life and education

Simon completed her medical training at the Vivantes Auguste Viktoria Hospital in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. She earned her doctoral degree at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

, where she researched herpesviridae using a

polymerase chain reaction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete or partial) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) t ...

. Simon started her career at

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

Research and career

Simon studies the biology of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and which aspects of the infection make it difficult to treat or cure. She has studied the modes of action of HIV restriction factors as well as the escape of lentiviral vectors. Simon investigates a group of genes that can restrict the replication of exo- and endogenous viruses. APOBEC is a family of

cytidine deaminase Cytidine deaminase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''CDA'' gene. This gene encodes an enzyme involved in pyrimidine salvaging. The encoded protein forms a homotetramer that catalyzes the irreversible hydrolytic deamination of cytid ...

s (enzymes) that are expressed in cells that are susceptible to HIV-1. She has shown that APOBEC Complex 3G (C3G) is active against HIV-1 and HIV-2, as well as LTR retrotransposon and Hepatitis B. Simon has demonstrated that the HIV Viral infectivity factor protein counters the

antiretroviral The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multipl ...

activity of APOBEC3G by inducing its degradation by

proteasome Proteasomes are protein complexes which degrade unneeded or damaged proteins by proteolysis, a chemical reaction that breaks peptide bonds. Enzymes that help such reactions are called proteases. Proteasomes are part of a major mechanism by w ...

. She has also generated a HIV/ SIV Viral infectivity factor (Vif)-

APOlipoprotein B Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the gene. Function Apolipoprotein B is the primary apolipoprotein of chylomicrons, VLDL, Lp(a), IDL, and LDL particles (LDL—commonly known as "bad cholesterol" when in refer ...

mRNA In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of Protein biosynthesis, synthesizing a protein. mRNA is ...

-Editing Catalytic polypeptide (APOBEC) interface model. She believes that restriction mediated by APOBEC cytidine deaminase causes the diversification of HIV-1. Working with

Florian Krammer Florian Krammer is an Austrian-American virologist who has been Endowed Professor of Vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai since 2019. He was trained at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria ...

, a colleague in the Department of Microbiology at the

, Simon created an antibody test that can determine immunity to

. The test makes use of an serological

enzyme-linked-immuno-sorbent-assays The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence ...

(ELISA), which measure the presence of coronavirus antibodies in blood. The test can tell whether someone has ever had coronavirus disease, which allows researchers to better understand which members of the population do or do not have the disease. Coronavirus disease patients who have recently recovered have high levels of antibodies in the blood, and this convalescent plasma can be used to treat critically ill patients. Antibody testing can also support medical professionals in deciding which staff take on the riskiest tasks (for example,

intubating Tracheal intubation, usually simply referred to as intubation, is the placement of a flexible plastic tube into the trachea (windpipe) to maintain an open airway or to serve as a conduit through which to administer certain drugs. It is frequently ...

infected patients) as they can identify healthcare workers who have been exposed and are immune.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Viviana Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Women microbiologists Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty German microbiologists German women biologists German women physicians