Dr. Robert Gorelick received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Maryland in 1980 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Delaware. He has been in the HIV and retroviruses field since 1985 where he began as a postdoctoral fellow in the ABL-Basic Research Program, NCI-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Program, studying functions of the retroviral nucleocapsid proteins. Over the years, Dr. Gorelick found his mentors at what is now known as Frederick National Laboratory to be highly supportive and was able to work his way to become a principal investigator where he served from 2008 to 2011 as the head of the ACVP-Retroviral Mutagenesis Section. There he studied the role of the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein in infection processes utilizing his expertise in real-time PCR to follow the effects of mutations to the NC protein on reverse transcription processes. Dr. Gorelick started working in the HIV Molecular Monitoring Core in 2012 and became its head in 2017 where he continues with ultrasensitive HIV-1 viral load testing, as well as training young investigators in techniques that are performed in the core. He is the author or coauthor of 150 peer-reviewed publications.
