Dr Adriano Boasso

Since the beginning of my scientific career I have studied the interaction between the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the immune system. By interfering with the physiological mechanisms of immune defence, HIV renders infected individuals highly susceptible to potentially fatal opportunistic infections.

A state of chronic and uncontrolled activation of the immune system, often described as pan-immune activation, develops during HIV infection. Although it is still unclear how HIV triggers the pan-immune activation, this condition eventually drives the immune system to exhaustion, thus leading to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In this context, certain mechanisms of immune defence, which normally contribute to control and clear viral infections, are diverted from their physiologic function by HIV and play a key role in promoting the pathogenic pan-immune activation.

The aim of my research program is to provide a comprehensive model of the pathogenic mechanisms which characterize HIV infection and identify the specific features that render HIV pathogenic for the immune system.