Nadia Roan, PhD
The Roan Lab studies how intracellular and extracellular factors in the tissue microenvironment can affect infection by HIV, mucosal immunity, and reproductive health. We have demonstrated that genital and rectal fibroblasts, amongst the most abundant cells of the mucosa, potently increase HIV infection of T cells through at least two distinct mechanisms: promoting viral entry, and altering the cellular state of T cells to render them more permissive to viral replication. To characterize the molecular basis of how intrinsic and extrinsic perturbations can render some subsets of CD4+ T cells more susceptible than others to HIV infection, we are using a variety of global gene expression analysis approaches, including CyTOF and RNA-seq. These approaches are also being used to characterize the HIV latent reservoir and the nature of viral rebound upon antiretroviral treatment interruption. Another research interest in the lab is to understand how factors in seminal plasma affect reproductive health and susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases.