Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) prevents viral replication in people living with HIV (PLWH), however it does not provide a cure since the virus is not eliminated from the body. As a result, PLWH must remain on ART lifelong and interventions to reduce the size of this reservoir have had limited success, highlighting the need for alternate cure strategies for PLWH. HIV can persist long-term by infecting a reservoir of memory T cells that are naturally adept at long-term survival. HIV targets these memory T cells for infection and exploits their survival abilities. Thus, this project aims to investigate how the virus co-opts the mechanisms utilized by memory cells for its own long-term persistence. T cell receptors are like sensors on the surface of T cells that help them recognize and respond to specific signals from other cells in our body. When the T cell receptor of an infected cell interacts with certain signals, it enhances the growth and survival of the HIV reservoir. By studying how HIV hijacks these interactions to promote its own long-term survival, we hope to uncover strategies to reverse these processes.