Researching for a cure: Cape Girardeau native gets prestigious HIV research grant

Dr. Jonah Sacha was born and raised in Cape Girardeau, but he's spent the last seven years researching HIV at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In October 2009, he received a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for further exploration. His goal? To create a vaccine that would stop the spread of this deadly pandemic.

"HIV is one of the biggest health care priorities worldwide, despite all the advances in medicine," says 31-year-old Sacha. While there are medications available to prolong an affected person's life, says Sacha, the drugs are "incredibly expensive," and many countries simply don't have the health care infrastructure to distribute them. Further complicating the situation is that HIV is one of the "slipperiest" viruses around, meaning that it easily escapes, mutates and replicates, says Sacha. But he thinks he's found a stable molecule on the virus and is working to develop a vaccine to protect people from acquiring HIV and prevent HIV from developing into AIDS.

"It's going really well," says Sacha. "Our preliminary data suggests that our initial data may be correct." Next, he plans to apply for a $1 million grant extension for further research and preclinical vaccine trials.

Sacha says he is continually amazed and excited by his work at the UW-Madison AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory. Though he was always interested in science, he never thought he would wind up doing scientific research for a living, working alongside the top experts in the field worldwide. One of those HIV experts is David Watkins, Ph.D., professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at UW-Madison. Watkins was Sacha's graduate school thesis adviser and was already researching HIV and AIDS. Sacha says the professor's research on this "culprit" to world health fascinated him, and he wanted to find a solution.

"It was blind luck. It's been really nice to be able to learn from him," says Sacha.

He also credits the "good, solid education" he received at Notre Dame Regional High School and University of Missouri-Columbia.

"There were a lot of small steps, a lot of luck,and a lot of hard work," says Sacha, who graduated from Notre Dame in 1997 before attending Mizzou and UW-Madison. "I clearly remember my science classes at Notre Dame, and I thought they were really, really fascinating," he adds. What stands out most in his memory is the day his science teacher a cow heart to class and showed students how it works to pump blood. "It was amazing to see it broken down, and more amazing that I understood it," says Sacha.

Though he never dreamed of becoming a research scientist, Sacha says he's always been interested in improving the overall human condition. His stepbrother, Bradley LePage, had muscular dystrophy, and Sacha always wondered, "Why can't we fix these basic diseases?"

In addition to his HIV research, Sacha wants to look into cancer, especially prostrate and melanoma cancer. He believes he has found a link between cancer and HIV and can apply his current research to cancer. Both HIV and cancer are caused by viruses that reactivate and replicate. As an example, he cites human papillomavirus, the most common cause of cervical cancer. The Gardasil vaccine is now effective in preventing HPV and therefore cervical cancer.

"Cancer follows the path of least resistance, and in science we have to follow the path where it leads. It's really exciting stuff," says Sacha.

Sacha is currently an associate scientist in the research lab and is interviewing to become a tenure track faculty member. When he's not researching world diseases, Sacha spends time with his wife, Louise, and their new baby, Jackson. Sacha is the son of Linda and Dr. Robert Sacha, a retired Cape Girardeau allergist.