Her research interests include T cell biology (development, differentiation, and tolerance) and human and mouse immune responses in infectious and inflammatory diseases.
My research focuses on chronic immune activation, inflammation, and microbial translocation in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and HIV.
Long-term heavy drinkers develop a spectrum of severe alcoholic liver disease, including alcoholic hepatitis, a severe and progressive liver inflammatory disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Excessive alcohol ingestion leads to increased intestinal permeability and microbial translocation from the gastrointestinal tract into the liver, which activates the immune system and plays a major role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic hepatitis. HIV infection also damages the gastrointestinal tract mucosal barrier, leading to microbial translocation and chronic immune activation and inflammation, which is not fully reversed by antiretroviral therapy. Alcohol abuse is prevalent among HIV-infected individuals. However it is not well known how excessive alcohol consumption and HIV infection interact to affect microbial translocation, immune activation, inflammation, and viral replication. I am interested in understanding the effect of alcohol on the immunological and virological features in HIV patients. As alcohol abstinence is the most important aspect for treating alcoholic liver diseases, I am examining whether alcohol abstinence could reverse immunological and virological impacts in HIV-infected heavy drinkers.
Expertise: Microbiology & Immunology
