Areas of Interest
I’m interested in retroviral infection strategies and the regulation of host and viral genomic factors. More specifically, I study host cell responses to HIV infection and how they influence disease pathogenicity over the course of infection. Active and latent stages of the virus, a myriad of host factors that interact with HIV, and incredible genetic diversity and mutation rates among viral clones make HIV a difficult virus to understand and protect against. I’m interested in how viruses like HIV are able to manipulate the host environment. I’m also interested more generally in how regulation of genes from both host and pathogen influences disease outcome. I am exploring how the HIV accessory protein Nef is utilized by the virus to enhance persistence in cells and how Nef influences disease outcomes.