Jason Brenchley, PhD
Senior Investigator
Barrier Immunity Section
The Brenchley lab aims to understand the mechanisms underlying the differential disease outcomes among SIV infections of natural hosts for SIV (who have been co-evolving with SIV for tens of thousands of years) compared to non-natural hosts (such as Asian macaques). Much of the work aims to understand the differential pathologies which occur within the GI tracts of progressively SIV-infected Asian macaques (similar to what occurs in HIV-infected humans). In contrast African green monkeys, who do not progress to AIDS, avoid disease progression due to epigenetic silencing of CD4 gene, leading to downregulation of CD4 by CD4+ T cells.
Suggested Penn mentors: Beatrice Hahn, Una O'Doherty, James Hoxie, Luis Montaner, Katharine Bar