Dr. Georgia Tomaras PhD

Dr. Tomaras' overall research program is to understand the cellular and humoral immune response to HIV-1 infection and vaccination that are involved in protection from HIV-1. The research in the Tomaras laboratory centers around three main projects involving 1) antiviral CD8+ T cell responses in HIV-1 infection and post vaccination, 2) mucosal and systemic antibody responses to infection and vaccination in both non-human primates and humans and 3) the ontogeny of neutralizing antibodies in HIV-1 infection. Her laboratory is also within the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.
Antiviral CD8+ T Cell Responses. CD8+ T cell immune responses to HIV involve noncytolytic CD8 T cells that mediate suppression of HIV replication. During human acute HIV-1 infection and acute SIV infection in non-human primates, CD8+ T cell responses have been associated with the initial control of viremia. A detailed understanding of the properties of CD8+ T cells that correlate with virologic control will inform vaccine development by focusing on strategies that elicit functional cellular responses.