biology

Viviana Simon

Viviana Simon is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Viviana Simon rather than just read about it. In short: Viviana Simon is a Professor of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). She is a member of the ISMMS Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute.

Key takeaways

Viviana Simon belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Viviana Simon to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Viviana Simon from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Viviana Simon is a Professor of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). She is a member of the ISMMS Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute. Her research considers viral-host interactions and the mode of action of retroviral restriction factors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Simon developed an antibody test that can determine immunity to Coronavirus disease 2019.

Early life and education Simon completed her medical training at the Vivantes Auguste Viktoria Hospital in Berlin. She earned her doctoral degree at the University of Rostock, where she researched herpesviridae using a polymerase chain reaction. Simon started her career at Rockefeller University.

Research and career Simon studies the biology of HIV and which aspects of the infection make it difficult to treat or cure. She has studied the modes of action of HIV restriction factors as well as the escape of lentiviral vectors. Simon investigates a group of genes that can restrict the replication of exo- and endogenous viruses. APOBEC is a family of cytidine deaminases (enzymes) that are expressed in cells that are susceptible to HIV-1. She has shown that APOBEC Complex 3G (C3G) is active against HIV-1 and HIV-2, as well as LTR retrotransposon and Hepatitis B. Simon has demonstrated that the HIV Viral infectivity factor protein counters the antiretroviral activity of APOBEC3G by inducing its degradation by proteasome. She has also generated a HIV/SIV Viral infectivity factor (Vif)-APOlipoprotein B mRNA-Editing Catalytic polypeptide (APOBEC) interface model. She believes that restriction mediated by APOBEC cytidine deaminase causes the diversification of HIV-1. Working with Florian Krammer, a colleague in the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Simon created an antibody test that can determine immunity to Coronavirus disease 2019. The test makes use of an serological enzyme-linked-immuno-sorbent-assays (ELISA), which measure the presence of coronavirus antibodies in the blood. The test can tell whether someone has ever had coronavirus disease, which allows researchers to better understand which members of the population do or do not have the disease. Coronavirus disease patients who have recently recovered have high levels of antibodies in the blood, and this convalescent plasma can be used to treat critically ill patients. Antibody testing can also support medical professionals in deciding which staff take on the riskiest tasks (for example, intubating infected patients) as they can identify healthcare workers who have been exposed and are immune.

Selected publications Simon, Viviana; Ho, David D; Abdool Karim, Quarraisha (2006). "HIV/AIDS epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment". The Lancet. 368 (9534): 489–504. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(06)69157-5. ISSN 0140-6736. PMC 2913538. PMID 16890836. Pfeffer, Sébastien; Sewer, Alain; Lagos-Quintana, Mariana; Sheridan, Robert; Sander, Chris; Grässer, Friedrich A.; van Dyk, Linda F.; Ho, C. Kiong; Shuman, Stewart; Chien, Minchen; Russo, James J. (2005). "Identification of microRNAs of the herpesvirus family". Nature Methods. 2 (4): 269–276. doi:10.1038/nmeth746. ISSN 1548-7105. PMID 15782219. S2CID 39189931. Simon, V R; Swayne, T C; Pon, L A (1995-07-15). "Actin-dependent mitochondrial motility in mitotic yeast and cell-free systems: identification of a motor activity on the mitochondrial surface". The Journal of Cell Biology. 130 (2): 345–354. doi:10.1083/jcb.130.2.345. ISSN 0021-9525. PMC 2199926. PMID 7615636.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Viviana Simon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Viviana Simon claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Viviana Simon before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Viviana Simon ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Viviana Simon

In research: Viviana Simon appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Viviana Simon in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Viviana Simon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century German medical doctors, 21st-century German women medical doctors, German microbiologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Viviana Simon outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Viviana Simon in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Viviana Simon means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Viviana Simon out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Viviana Simon in simple terms?

Viviana Simon is a Professor of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). She is a member of the ISMMS Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute.

Why does Viviana Simon matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Viviana Simon?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Viviana Simon.