Charles A. Scanga, PhD
- Research Associate Professor
Education & Training
- PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Virology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2000
- MCI in Clinical Immunology, Hahnemann University, 1989
- BS in Biology, Saint Vincent College, 1987
Research Interests
Dr. Scanga joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2008 and is currently a Research Associate Professor. His primary research interest is co-infection with HIV/ M. tuberculosis (Mtb). He uses nonhuman primate (NHP) models to better understand how SIV (as the surrogate for HIV) impairs host defense to a subsequent Mtb exposure and how TB or vaccinations drive SIV replication and pathogenesis, in collaboration with Dr. Shelby O’Connor (U. Wisconsin-Madison). He also recently began a study of HIV-Mtb co-infections in children. This project seeks to identify the immunology defect in SIV+ juvenile macaques that increases susceptibility to co-infection and assess the effects of antiretroviral therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. In collaboration with Dr. Lishomwa Ndlovu, a clinical researcher at Cornell, the project also analyzes immune responses in children infected with Mtb, HIV, or both to reveal how closely his NHP model recapitulates the immunologic defect in HIV+ kids. At the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Scanga works closely with Dr. JoAnne Flynn, serving as the project manager for her TB studies. These diverse projects involve anti-TB drugs, novel PET probes for infectious diseases, novel TB vaccines, and basic pathogenesis. As the manager of the PET/CT imaging facility within the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory in Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research, Dr. Scanga works closely with other Pitt researchers to apply PET/CT to research on various other microbial pathogens.