Welcome to the HNRP

Passing of Professor Cristian Achim, MD, PhD

It is with great sadness that we learned that our dear colleague and friend Cris Achim passed suddenly last Tuesday, December 3, 2024.

Dr. Achim had been a member of our group since 2007, contributing his neurobiology and neuropathology expertise to our many translational studies. At the time of his death, his critical roles included being head of the neuropathology unit of the California NeuroAIDS tissue network, a co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship in NeuroAIDS, and also head of the Neurobiology unit of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center. In the past, he played central roles in our Translational Methamphetamine AIDS Research Center and several investigator-initiated research projects, including a recently concluded study on neuroHIV in Romania.

Dr. Achim was a native of Romania where he received his MD and postgraduate infectious disease training before joining UCSD as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Clayton Wiley MD PhD in 1989. While with Dr. Wiley’s lab, Dr. Achim began groundbreaking studies on the role of macrophages in HIV-associated dementia. After receiving his UCSD PhD in Experimental and Molecular Pathology he continued his work at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2007 he returned to UCSD in the Department of Psychiatry and joined the HNRP where his program of research continued to flourish. For example, he demonstrated the presence of intracellular amyloid in the brains of people with HIV, which suggested a role for protein mismanagement in HIV neuropathogenesis. This led to his exploration of micro RNAs in neuroHIV. Dr. Achim was also interested in the roles of chaperone proteins such as immunophilins in HIV brain disease and neuroprotection.

In addition to his own research and collaborations with the HNRP team, Dr. Achim was a generous mentor and influenced the careers of numerous mentees, ranging from medical students to graduate students post-doctoral fellows, and early career faculty. He was also generous in hosting scholars from abroad.

Dr. Achim is survived by his wife, Simona. We are not aware of any services planned, but the HNRP will host a celebration of his career through a virtual event early in the next year. We will invite colleagues to make remarks focusing on his collaborative research, mentorship, and friendship.