Biography

Narrative

As a career research scientist my work has focused primarily on the immunology and immunopathogenesis of  lentivirus infections both in humans and  using  animal models.  Greater  than 70% of my effort is research-oriented, 20% training fellows and students, and 10% for administrative duties. At present, my research is focused on NK and DC responses to SIV infection in the rhesus macaque model, with an emphasis on interactions in mucosal tissues, but is also expanding to include studies of innate immunity in other animal models of infectious diseases.

Since being promoted to Instructor in 2011 we have contributed significantly to the understanding of NK cell responses to HIV/SIV infections by demonstrating (1) lentivirus infections rapidly deplete, both in numbers and function, mucosal NK cells, not by direct infection, but by a virus-induced perturbation of inflammatory mediators and cytokine networks, and (2) first evidence of ‘NK cell memory’ in a primate species. Additional work by our laboratory has revised a long-held paradigm  that HIV/SIV infections deplete pDCs. We recently showed that pDCs actually accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract. Other ongoing research projects include characterizing the contributions of innate immune responses to controlled lentivirus infections by comparing infections with live  attenuated SIV strains to “elite controllers” of HIV and exploring how over-stimulation of innate immune cells like pDCs can exacerbate chronic immune activation. Both these areas of research are collaborative efforts working with patients from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and at Beijing You’an hospital with financial support from amFAR. An ongoing R21 grant from NIAID is also focusing on the role of NK cells in chronicity versus acute clearance of Hepaciviruses. For this purpose we are utilizing our newly developed GBV- B/marmoset model of HCV that fills a dire need for an HCV animal model and has significant promise for future grant applications.

Even though I am relatively early in my career I have had a great interest in teaching and training of students. While an undergraduate student at MSU I served as a laboratory teaching assistant and later taught Cellular and Molecular Biology at Birmingham-Southern College. Specifically in my lab  I  am currently supervising two postdoctoral fellows, one focusing on our Hepacivirus disease model and the second on mucosal innate immune responses in HIV/SIV.   In addition I formerly served as a co-advisor to a Master’s student in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I also regularly offer guidance to numerous other students and fellows at NEPRC.

I am actively involved with many professional societies specific to my areas of research including the American Association of  Immunologists,  the Society for  Mucosal Immunology,  and International AIDS Society. I am regularly invited to speak on topics related to NK cell biology in nonhuman primate models and am currently serving on the National Scientific Program Committee for the 31st  Annual Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS conference. I also currently serve on the editorial boards for AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and PLoS One, and review regularly for multiple other journals.

My overarching goals are to continue to focus on building and broadening my research portfolio as well as stay an active member of the Boston research community. To this end, I will continue to engage in cutting edge infectious disease and vaccine research, expand my teaching of graduate students and fellows, and seek out additional supportive and leadership roles at HMS/BIDMC and the global scientific community.