Drexel University College of Medicine

Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program

M.S. (Biomedical Sciences), University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
B.S. (Biochemistry Honors), University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

Email: satinder.dahiya@drexel.edu

Advisor: Dr. Brian Wigdahl

Thesis Research Summary:

HIV/AIDS is one of the most dreaded diseases of modern times. Numerous attempts in various directions to curtail its spread and find a cure/vaccine have yielded very little success. Therefore, it becomes all the more important to understand the biology of HIV infection in greater depths. I am fortunate to be a part of Dr. Brian Wigdahl’s laboratory, and work on elucidating the role of important regulatory proteins like Vpr, etc., in HIV-1 transcription. Despite the availability of highly active anti-retroviral therapy the virus persists in the cell of macrophage/monocyte lineage and this reservoir stands as a major barrier to successful therapy. My thesis research involves studying the transcriptional effects of Viral Protein-R (Vpr) and other important proteins like CAAAT-enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) form a standpoint of HIV-1 transcription in macrophage lineage cells. We are also interested in elucidating the functional phenotypes of some important transcription factor binding site variants in the HIV-1 long terminal repeat identified in the DrexelMed cohort patient samples. These variations and the associated alteration in transcription can be an important direction to deal with the latent HIV-1 reservoirs in non-dividing cells like macrophages.  Besides laboratory research, I like to spend my time reading and traveling to broaden my perspectives in a more holistic sense.