Journal of Immunology and Immunotherapy

Mohamed Abdel Mohsen
Assistant Professor, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia,USA.

Biography

My research focuses on diverse aspects of HIV pathogenesis, including HIV latency, host-virus interactions, intrinsic immunity, and HIV sequence diversity. My experience spans host and viral genetic analyses, including implementation of qPCR and ultra-deep sequencing methods to measure differential gene expression. In addition, my expertise includes utilizing in vitro and ex vivo models to measure HIV replication and latency reversal. As a result, I have published over 25 peer-reviewed papers in the last few years that reflect diverse interests in the field of HIV biology, ranging from the iPrEx study to my work in the Delaney AIDS Research Enterprise to Cure HIV (DARE) and Sustainable East Africa Research of Community Health Global (SEARCH) studies, to my work describing host intrinsic immune mechanisms relevant to HIV pathogenesis and persistence in vivo. I had also received The Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Early-Career Award of Excellence in Basic Science in 2015. I joined The Wistar Institute as Assistant Professor in 2017, after completing my Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Blood Systems Research Institute (BSRI), where I was subsequently appointed as a research scientist. Previously, I was a virologist for the World Health Organization Regional Reference Laboratory for poliovirus in my home country of Egypt. At Wistar, I will investigate the role of host-virus interactions in persistence and immunopathogenesis of HIV infection by combining virological, glycobiological, and immune-based basic and translational research. These multidisciplinary studies will aim to develop novel approaches to enhance immune function and control/eradicate HIV. This work will depend on a combination of approaches including: investigating the role of glycan-lectin interactions and altered cell-surface glycosylation in mediating cellular processes central to immune regulation and human diseases; designing multi-omics approaches to study host immune response to HIV infection; and developing robust and sensitive molecular biology-based assays to measure cellular and tissue HIV reservoirs.

Research Interest

HIV, Interferon, galectin, glycosylation, lectins, glycans, HIV latency, HIV persistence, HIV reservoir, viral reactivation, latency reversal agent, Intrinsic immunity, molecular biology, digital droplet PCR.