Harvard Catalyst Profiles

The focus of my work has been translational research on HIV-1 controllers, individuals that spontaneously maintain low-level of HIV viral replication in the absence of antiretrovirals.
I have established and lead The International HIV Controllers Study (www.hivcontrollers.org) at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. This observational cohort and biospecimen repository supports research related to the host genetics, viral and immunologic correlates of spontaneous HIV control.
My Laboratory work involves the characterization of cytotoxic T lymphocyte response to HIV-1 infection, including HLA allele- specific dominant and subdominant responses and memory CD8 T cell responses associated with control of viremia. In addition I have an interest on the relationhsip between low-level viremia, immune activation and cardiovascular disease in HIV-1 controllers and chair the first multi-center clinical trial of ART in HIV controllers.
I'm a practicing clinician at the Division of Infectious Disease at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where I mentor clinical fellows in their mandatory outpatients practice, follow a large population of HIV infected Spanish speaking individuals and provide inpatient consultation for general infectious diseases.