Understanding and targeting the latent HIV reservoir
Antiretroviral therapy has transformed HIV infection from a fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition. However, ART does not eliminate latently infected cells. These cells can remain dormant for years or even decades and can reignite infection if therapy is interrupted.
Our central goal is to understand what latent reservoir cells are, where they reside, how they are maintained, and how they can be therapeutically targeted. We study reservoir seeding, survival, and reactivation from latency, while also considering the broader mechanisms of HIV pathogenesis and disease progression.
We use high-dimensional systems virology, CRISPR-based perturbation, latency models, primary cell systems, and samples from people living with HIV to dissect reservoir biology at mechanistic depth. Because no single intervention is likely to be sufficient, we view durable remission as a multifactorial challenge that will require reservoir reduction, control of residual latent proviruses, and immune mechanisms that prevent viral rebound and disease progression.
