University of Florida scientists explain why two subtypes of HIV-1 — the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS — held steady at relatively low levels for more than 50 years in west central Africa before erupting as an epidemic in east Africa in the 1970s.

Marco Salemi, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine at the UF College of Medicine, has won a five-year, $3.5 million NIH grant to probe the genetic origins of HIV-associated dementia.

Jay Levy, M.D., one of the discoverers of HIV, spoke at the second annual meeting of the UF-based Florida Center for AIDS Research.