Curriculum Vitae
Zachary A. Silver,
M.D., Ph.D.
Pulmonary & Critical Care physician-scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, in the laboratory of Anthony Shum — studying COPA syndrome and STING-driven interstitial lung disease. Board-certified internist and MD/PhD; NIH-funded (F30) HIV glycobiologist and first-author of work in Cell Reports and the Journal of Virology.
Contents
Education & Training
University of California, San Francisco
Fellowship, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine · Shum Lab
2024 – Present
Duke University Hospital
Residency, Internal Medicine · Physician-Scientist Training Program
Durham, NC
2021 – 2024
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
MD & PhD · Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)
PhD: “O-glycosylation of HIV-1 Envelope” · Ronald C. Desrosiers Laboratory
2014 – 2021
Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical Center
Sanford Kuvin Travelling Fellowship · Ron Dzikowski Laboratory
Jerusalem, Israel · Plasmodium falciparum antigenic variation
2014
Christian Medical College, Vellore
Fulbright–Nehru Full Research Fellowship · Gagandeep Kang Laboratory
Tamil Nadu, India · Childhood immune responses to cryptosporidiosis
2012 – 2013
Tufts University
B.Sc., Biology · Magna Cum Laude with Highest Thesis Honors
GPA 3.70 · Dean’s List (8 semesters) · Edouard Vannier Laboratory
2008 – 2012
Certification & Licensure
Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine
Board-certified in Internal Medicine
Physician & Surgeon License — State of California
Licensed to practice medicine in California
Zachary A. Silver, M.D., Ph.D., Inc.
Founder & Principal — California professional medical corporation (medical & scientific consulting)
2026 – Present
Honors & Awards
The Robert J. Lefkowitz Society
Duke University School of Medicine
2021
F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA
NIAID / NIH
2018 – 2022
Louis J. Elsas Research Award in Biochemical Genetics
Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, U. Miami
2019
Best Talk, Annual MSTP Research Symposium
University of Miami MSTP
2019
Finalist, Graduate Student Award of Excellence
Miller School of Medicine, U. Miami
2019
Sanford Kuvin Travelling Fellowship
Kuvin Center, Hebrew University
2014
Fulbright–Nehru Full Research Fellowship
U.S. Department of State
2012
Magna Cum Laude, Highest Thesis Honors
Tufts University
2012
Research Experience
Shum Lab — UCSF
Clinical-research Fellow
COPA syndrome and STING-driven interferonopathies: mapping how disruptions in COPI-coatomer trafficking of STING drive type I interferon and interstitial lung disease, using spatial transcriptomics and single-cell RNA sequencing.
2024 – Present
Desrosiers Laboratory — U. Miami (Pathology)
PhD Candidate
Discovered that a subset of HIV-1 strains elongate the Env V1 domain and shield it with O-linked glycans — conferring >1000-fold resistance (IC50) to V3-glycan broadly neutralizing antibodies. Established an elite-controller cohort and CRISPR/Cas9 O-glycosylation-deficient cell lines.
2015 – 2021
Watkins Laboratory — U. Miami (Pathology)
Rotating Student
SIV vaccine work in rhesus macaques; showed that Mamu-B*17:01 vs *17:03 variants differ within the epitope-binding domain and differentially prime Nef-IW9 CD8+ T-cell responses.
2014 – 2015
Dzikowski Laboratory — Hebrew University
Kuvin Fellow
Role of nuclear-envelope proteins SunB and Sec13 in Plasmodium falciparum var-gene antigenic variation; generated fluorescently tagged strains for nuclear-architecture imaging.
2014
Kang Laboratory — Christian Medical College, Vellore
Fulbright–Nehru Scholar
Flow-cytometry assays characterizing children’s memory immune responses to Cryptosporidium; systematic review of soil-transmitted helminth infection across South & Southeast Asia.
2012 – 2013
Vannier Laboratory — Tufts Medical Center
Undergraduate Thesis Researcher
Forward-genetic mapping of host resistance to babesiosis to a seven-gene interval on mouse chromosome 9; defined roles for C3, IFN-γ, IL-21, B cells and DN T cells in parasite clearance.
2010 – 2012
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Silver ZA, Antonopoulos A, Haslam SM, Dell A, Dickinson GM, Seaman MS, Desrosiers RC. Discovery of O-linked carbohydrate on HIV-1 envelope and its role in shielding against one category of broadly neutralizing antibodies. Cell Reports. 2020;30(6):1862–1869. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2020.01.056
Silver ZA, Dickinson GM, Seaman MS, Desrosiers RC. A highly unusual V1 region of Env in an elite controller of HIV infection. Journal of Virology. 2019;93(10):e00094-19. doi:10.1128/JVI.00094-19
Termini JM, Church ES, Silver ZA, Haslam SM, Dell A, Desrosiers RC. HIV and SIV maintain high levels of infectivity in the complete absence of mucin-type O-glycosylation. Journal of Virology. 2017;91(19):e01228-17. doi:10.1128/JVI.01228-17
Silver ZA, Watkins DI. The role of MHC class I gene products in SIV infection of macaques. Immunogenetics. 2017;69(8–9):511–519. doi:10.1007/s00251-017-0997-3
Termini JM, Silver ZA, Connor B, Antonopoulos A, Haslam SM, Dell A, Desrosiers RC. HEK293T cell lines defective for O-linked glycosylation. PLOS ONE. 2017;12(6):e0179949. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0179949
Silver ZA, Kaliappan SP, Samuel P, Venugopal S, Kang G, Sarkar R, Ajjampur SSR. Geographical distribution of soil-transmitted helminths and the effects of community type in South Asia and South East Asia — a systematic review. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2018;12(1):e0006153. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006153
Schwarz D, Sharma R, Bashyal C, et al. (incl. Silver ZA). Strengthening Nepal’s female community health volunteer network through public sector accompaniment. BMC Health Services Research. 2014;14:473.
Basnet B, Gauchan B, Shrestha R, Baruwal A, Karcles G, Silver ZA. Strengthening free healthcare in rural Nepal. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2014;52(194):856–861.
Doctoral thesis: “O-glycosylation of HIV-1 Envelope,” University of Miami, 2019. Full record on ORCID.
Research Funding
1F30AI134381 — “Virologic determinants of HIV elite control”
Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA (F30) · NIAID / NIH · PI (100%), mentor R. Desrosiers
2018 – 2022
Louis J. Elsas Research Award in Biochemical Genetics
Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, University of Miami
2019 – 2021
Sanford Kuvin Travelling Fellowship
Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious & Tropical Diseases
2014
Fulbright–Nehru Full Research Fellowship
U.S. Department of State
2012 – 2013
Scientific Software & Resource Sharing
O-glycosylation analysis toolkit
Rare Missense Mutation Analyzer · NetOGlyc4.0 Bulk Analyzer · Furin-Cleavage & O-Glycosylation Site Proximity Analyzer · HIV-1 Env V1 O-glycosylation Analyzer
Open-source Python tools for population sequence analysis and glycosylation prediction (GitHub). Invention disclosures filed with the University of Miami.
2020
O-glycosylation-deficient cell lines
Gale-KO, Galk1-KO, Galk2-KO, GaleGalk1-KO, GaleGalk2-KO (deposited at ATCC)
2018
Research instruments (current)
Coil (plasmid & molecular-cloning workbench) · Colony (vivarium management) · and other in-house scientific software
See Software.
2025 – Present
Service, Leadership & Mentorship
SARS-CoV-2 Assessment of Viral Evolution (SAVE)
NIAID consortium · Duke
2021 – 2024
Lincoln Community Health Center
Care for underserved patients · Duke
2021 – 2024
Apollo Society at U. Miami
Founder & President
2018 – 2020
Annual MSTP Symposium
Chair (2019–20), Committee (2018–19)
2018 – 2020
American Physician Scientists Association, U. Miami
Co-founder & Vice President
2015 – 2017
GlobeMed at Tufts / Possible Health
Co-founder; Data Scientist (rural Nepal)
2011 – 2014
Memberships
Skills