Join Professor Racaniello and Trine Tsouderos for an online chat about viruses - from HIV to XMRV, Tues May 17

Tribune's health reporter Trine Tsouderos, May 17, 2011:

Join us at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, May 17, for an hour-long chat about viruses, with the Tribune's health reporter Trine Tsouderos and panelist Dr. Vincent Racaniello.

Viruses are in the news all of the time. The flu hits, we hear about it. H1N1 hits, we really hear about it. We hear about vaccines, some of which protect against dangerous viral infections. We hear about HIV, which has killed so many and transformed Africa. We hear about XMRV, a retrovirus potentially being the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer. From our neighbors and friends we hear about viruses making the rounds among our kids, striking people down on vacation and even leading to untimely deaths of loved ones. We are covered in viruses, surrounded by them. They shape our lives in so many ways. Here's a unique opportunity to talk about viruses with one of the great experts on them, Vincent Racaniello.

Dr. Vincent Racaniello is the Professor of Microbiology at Columbia University Medical Center. Racaniello has been studying viruses for over 30 years. He trained with virology legends Dr. Peter Palese and Dr. David Baltimore, and later joined the faculty in the Department of Microbiology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City. He has studied a variety of viruses including poliovirus, echovirus, enterovirus 70, rhinovirus and hepatitis C virus. He is also co-author of the textbook, Principles of Virology, Volumes I and II.
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