Laboratory of Infectious Disease Immunology and Control

Research Interest

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), remains the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, claiming approximately 1.25 million lives in 2023. India, along with several countries across Asia, Africa, and North America, continues to bear a high TB burden. With an estimated one-quarter of the global population harboring latent TB infection and no vaccine currently available for HIV, the intersection of HIV and TB presents a major public health and scientific challenge. Addressing this requires leveraging advances in disease modeling to better understand HIV-Mtb interactions and develop more effective treatment strategies.

Key Questions

Mtb-HIV co-infection presents a complex clinical scenario. Co-treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) and anti-TB therapy (ATT) is often hindered by the emergence of drug-resistant strains, drug-drug interactions, toxicity, and TB-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS), complicating clinical management.

Our lab focuses on developing advanced in-vitro systems, including 3D cellular models and organoids, to study HIV-Mtb interactions and identify improved therapeutic approaches. To achieve these goals, we utilize a wide range of immunological, microbiological, and molecular biology techniques such as flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, live-cell imaging, 3D cell culture, sequencing, Luminex assays, and qRT-PCR. These studies are conducted in both BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratory environments.