Dr. Joseph J. Eron, M.D.

Expert Publications

• Genotypic resistance and the treatment of HIV-1 infection in Espírito Santo, Brazil.
• The effect of Plasmodium falciparum malaria on HIV-1 RNA blood plasma concentration.
• Sexual transmission of HIV: infectiousness and prevention.
• Characterization of V3 sequence heterogeneity in subtype C human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates from Malawi: underrepresentation of X4 variants.
• Immune activation and plasma viral load in HIV-infected African individuals.
• Antiretroviral-drug concentrations in semen: implications for sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1.
• Detectable HIV-1 RNA at levels below quantifiable limits by amplicor HIV-1 monitor is associated with virologic relapse on antiretroviral therapy.
• Prolonged therapy with the fusion inhibitor T-20 in combination with oral antiretroviral agents in an HIV-infected individual.
• Nucleoside analogues achieve high concentrations in seminal plasma: relationship between drug concentration and virus burden.
• Population pharmacokinetics of lamivudine in adult human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients enrolled in two phase III clinical trials.
• Emergence of dual resistance to zidovudine and lamivudine in HIV-1-infected
• Potent antiretroviral treatment of HIV-infection results in suppression of the
• Changing prevalence of oral manifestations of human immuno-deficiency virus in
• HIV-1 protease inhibitors.
• Simultaneous determination of lamivudine and zidovudine concentrations in human seminal plasma using high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry.

Clinical Trials

• Pilot Trial of the Effect of Vorinostat and AGS-004 on Persistent HIV-1 Infection

Media Releases

Get to know Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Joseph J. Eron, who serves patients in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

A prominent infectious disease specialist, Dr. Eron is Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UNC Infectious Diseases at Eastowne – UNC Faculty Physicians Center at Eastowne. His clinical interests include HIV care, antiretroviral therapy, HIV resistance, and primary HIV infection.

He also holds many other titles, including Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Director of Clinical Core at the UNC Center for AIDS Research; Associate Director of the General Clinical Research Unit at UNC Health; Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health; Vice Chair of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group; and Principal Investigator of the HIV/AIDS Clinical Research Unit at UNC-CH.

Having been part of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group since 1993, Dr. Eron has held multiple leadership positions including Chair of the Optimization of ART (OpART) Committee and the Cure Transformative Science Group. He is the Principal Investigator of the UNC Clinical Trials Unit with sites in Chapel Hill; Greensboro; Lilongwe, Malawi; and Hanoi, Vietnam. In addition, he is a leader of the UNC Acute HIV infection research team and is a collaborator in the UNC HIV Cure Initiative. 

Educated in the United States, Dr. Eron graduated with his undergraduate degree from Harpur College and received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He subsequently completed his HIV training at Massachusetts General Hospital under Drs. Martin Hirsch and Richard D’Aquila, followed by his fellowship training in infectious diseases at the said establishment. 

The doctor is board-certified in infectious disease and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Over the last 15 years, Dr. Eron has led the development of the UNC HIV CFAR Clinic Cohort that includes over 5000 HIV infected individuals and has active collaboration and membership in the NA ACCORD and CNICS cohorts. 

Infectious disease is a medical specialty dealing with the prevention, the diagnosis, and the treatment of all infections. An infectious disease specialist’s practice also consists of managing nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections.

An expert in his field, Dr. Eron has over 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals focusing on antiretroviral therapy, resistance, pharmacology, transmission and HIV persistence, and disruption of latency. Recent work has included publications from the UNC CFAR HIV Clinical Cohort, the ACTG, HPTN and IAS-USA HIV treatment guidelines in JAMA 2020. 

Having worked extensively in the area of HIV drug development, Dr. Eron has led or participated in original studies of many antiretroviral therapies. He also continues as an active HIV and infectious disease clinician. He was awarded the HIVMA HIV Clinical Educator Award in 2013. 

Happily married, Dr. Eron lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and family. He has four daughters, three sons, and four grandchildren.

Recommended Articles

• What Are the Signs and Symptoms of AIDS?

  Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, is a serious secondary immunodeficiency disorder. AIDS is caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There is progressive destruction of cell-mediated (T cell) immunity. Also, both conditions are characterized by subsequent effects on humoral immunity...

• What to Expect on Your Future Visits to the Doctor After You Have Been Diagnosed with Lyme Disease

  A diagnosis of Lyme disease immediately calls for a 2-4 week course of antibiotics. Doxycycline, amoxicillin, and cefuroxime axetil are some of the antibiotics most commonly used to treat Lyme disease. However, treatment may still vary depending on the symptoms present and the stage at which the...

• Is Dengue Fever Fatal?

  Dengue fever, a viral infection spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which causes acute body pain, raging fever and a slew of rashes and spots covering the body, but rarely progresses far enough to claim lives. Fatalities only occur when typical dengue develops into more serious conditions such as...

• Borrelia burgdorferi: The Bug Responsible for Lyme Disease

  Borrelia burgdorferi is a gram-negative bacterium, which is the causative organism of Lyme disease. It is most commonly found in North America and Europe. Lyme disease is a zoonotic vector-borne disease. A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans and...

• Can I Live a Normal Life with Lyme Disease?

  Lyme disease is caused by ticks where the bacteria enter the body through its bite. It takes about three to four days for the tick to settle in the body. The initial symptom of the bite is a rash. As the bacteria moves deeper into the system, the symptoms that can be experienced are muscle pain,...

• The Symptoms and Treatment of Toxoplasmosis

  What is toxoplasmosis?Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic infection caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which is found in humans and some types of animals. Although this parasite can infect all warm-blooded animals, it tends to only reproduce in the gut of felids, such as domestic cats and...