Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is incurable, despite drugs that effectively target the viral life cycle. The reservoir of cells containing replication-competent HIV that persists during drug therapy is poorly understood because these cells cannot be isolated to high purity. A major focus of the lab is isolating and sequencing latently infected CD4 T cells from people on long-term effective anti-retroviral therapy. Our goal is to understand the cellular mechanisms that control persistence. Toward this, we are developing a second-generation FIND-seq method that enables thousands of Psi+ Env+ cells to be single-cell sequenced.

Relevant Publications

• NEW! The immunophenotype and proviral landscape of HIV-infected CD4 T cells during antiretroviral therapy (Accepted PNAS)
• HIV silencing and cell survival signatures in infected T cell reservoirs
• Identification of astrocyte regulators by nucleic acid cytometry

Current projects focus on:

• Application of FIND-seq to isolate and RNA-sequence rare HIV-infected T cells from people on ART
• Extension of FIND-seq to study protein and epigenetic signatures of HIV-infected T cells