Keith Jerome, MD, PhD

Biography

Professor, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutch
Larry Corey Endowed Professor in Virology, University of Washington
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington
Head, Virology Division, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington
Director, Molecular Virology Laboratory, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington

Dr. Keith Jerome is a renowned virologist whose research focuses on viruses such as herpes simplex, HIV and hepatitis B that persist in their hosts. He studies the ways in which these viruses evade the immune system and potential therapies for these infections. Dr. Jerome and his colleagues are studying the uses of precision gene-editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 to remove damaging viral genes that have tucked themselves into a person’s genetic code or to insert genes that can protect cells from invading viruses. He and his colleagues are exploring this approach in combination with blood stem cell transplants as a means of curing HIV. Dr. Jerome also studies the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. He and his University of Washington colleagues developed a diagnostic test for infection with the coronavirus that expanded local testing capacity, and his Fred Hutch laboratory aims to validate and deliver COVID-19 tests that could diagnose infection within minutes.