Research:

Keywords: HIV, innate immunity, sex differences in immunity

Research Activities

Our lab is interested in the immunopathogenesis of viral infections with a focus on how the innate immune system is disrupted by infection and may potentially be directed to enhance immune responses. Active projects are investigating the impact of HIV viremia on epigenetic profile of innate immune cells from people living with HIV with the goal of identifying features relevant to immune dysregulation that may be therapeutic targets. The lab also has a specific focus on the impact of biological sex on immune responses to HIV and other viral infections including SARS-CoV-2. Prior work has identified a role for estrogen in regulation of HIV latency and ongoing projects are seeking to define the molecular mechanisms for this sex-differential impact of estrogen on the HIV reservoir. With access to the clinical data and samples from the COVID-19 cohorts at Johns Hopkins, we have been exploring sex specific immune reponses with transcriptomics to identify host features that may be associated with severe outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Publications and Interests: tps://jhu.pure.elsevier.com/en/persons/eileen-scully