Prevention of HIV transmission requires approaches that interrupt the early phase of infection with this retrovirus. An event of this phase is the entry of HIV into the target cells, which involves interactions between the envelope glycoproteins (gp120-gp41) and the CD4 receptor as well as the CCR5 or CXCR4 coreceptors. To interrupt viral entry, one must first understand the conformational and structural changes that allow HIV envelope glycoproteins to interact with these receptors to fuse with host cells.

My work is aimed at developing a new class of HIV entry inhibitors as well as designing better HIV immunogens that could pave the way for the development of effective HIV vaccines as well as better treatment options.