T cells in neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. Our research explores how specific immune cells—CD4 T cells—contribute to both protection against viral infections and damage to the brain during disease. We study how the immune system responds to HIV and related viruses, focusing on the cellular mechanisms that drive neuroinflammation. Bridging immunology, neuroscience, and infectious disease, our lab integrates multiple approaches: we collaborate with the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS) and Johns Hopkins University to analyze clinical samples, use non-human primate models to study HIV neuropathogenesis, and apply transgenic mouse models to dissect immune mechanisms. Our goal is to understand how immune responses shape brain health and to develop targeted therapies that prevent or treat virus-associated neurodegeneration.
Elizaldi SR, Hawes CE, Verma A, Lakshmanappa YS, Dinasarapu AD, Schlegel BT, Rajasundaram D, Li J, Durbin- Johnson B, Ma ZM, Pal PB, Beckman D, Ott S, Raeman R, Lifson JD, Morrison JH, Iyer SS. CCR7+ CD4 T Cell Immunosurveillance Disrupted in Chronic SIV-Induced Neuroinflammation in Rhesus Brain. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2024;134(9). PMCID: PMC11060742
Elizaldi SR, Verma A, Ma ZM, Ott S, Rajasundaram D, Hawes CE, Lakshmanappa YS, Cottrell ML, Kashuba ADM, Ambrose Z, Lifson JD, Morrison JH, Iyer SS. (2023). Deep analysis of CD4 T cells in the rhesus CNS during SIV infection. PLoS pathogens, 19(12), e1011844. PMCID: PMC10729971
Hawes CE, Elizaldi SR, Beckman D, Diniz GB, Shaan Lakshmanappa Y, Ott S, Durbin-Johnson BP, Dinasarapu AR, Gompers A, Morrison JH, Iyer SS. Neuroinflammatory transcriptional programs induced in rhesus pre-frontal cortex white matter during acute SHIV infection. J Neuroinflammation. 2022 Oct 6;19(1):250. PMCID: PMC9535930
Beckman D, Bonillas A, Diniz GB, Ott S, Roh JW, Elizaldi SR, Schmidt BA, Sammak RL, Koen Van Rompay KKA, Iyer SS, Morrison JH. SARS-CoV-2 infects neurons and induces neuroinflammation in a non-human primate model of COVID-19. Cell Reports, 2022. PMCID: PMC955432
Verma A, Hawes CE, Lakshmanappa YS, Roh JW, Schmidt BA, Dutra J, Louie W, Liu H, Ma ZM, Watanabe JK, Usachenko JL, Immareddy R, Sammak RL, Pollard R, Reader JR, Olstad KJ, Coffey LL, Kozlowski PA, Hartigan-O'Connor DJ, Nussenzweig M, Van Rompay KKA, Morrison JH, Iyer SS. 2021. Monoclonal antibodies protect aged rhesus macaques from SARS-CoV-2-induced immune activation and neuroinflammation. Cell Rep 37:109942. PMCID: PMC8523485
