My research interest is to understand the multiple ways by which HIV interacts with the immune system and persists permanently. I have been fascinated by this complex relationship since 8th grade and pursuing it ever since. Beginning as an intern during my Master’s degree, I studied how a cytokine involved in lymphoid homeostasis, interleukin-7, modulates the CD4 T cell compartment and affects HIV infection and, in particular, the HIV reservoir. During that time, I developed a strong interest in the problem of HIV persistence and in the identification of the mechanisms by which we can define and eradicate it. My PhD work focused on defining how the CD4 T cell compartment homeostasis modulates the HIV reservoirs in acute infection, and in models of spontaneous and therapeutic control over HIV-1 infection, particularly in the VISCONTI cohort of Post-Treatment Controllers. This work led to several high impact research findings and peer-reviewed publications, as well as a number of other publications that are currently ongoing. In 2013, I joined Dr. Joseph “Mike” McCune’s lab at the University of California, San Francisco, as a postdoctoral researcher to study the role of immune homeostasis mechanisms in HIV persistence as a function of the timing and duration of antiretroviral therapy, under the auspice of a R01 that I wrote and have been managing. Ultimately, translating basic research to clinical applications is my main goal, with the intent of identifying eradication strategies for therapeutic intervention in the HIV-infected population.