Marisa Jefferies

Bio

My research project aims to better understand how HIV-1 infection may affect white matter development during adolescence. Studies have previously indicated that individuals living with HIV-1 exhibit white matter pathology even when undergoing antiretroviral therapies effective in controlling viral load. This is especially important to consider during adolescence when the white matter in the brain continues to develop. Unfortunately, the adolescent population accounts for a disproportionately high number of new HIV-1 cases annually, underscoring the critical need for research on how HIV-1 infection may affect white matter development and therefore brain function. I will be able to examine oligodendroglial and myelination dynamics during this critical window of brain development in an animal model. We’re also actively examining how antiretroviral therapy use during adolescence affects white matter development, which will expand our understanding of whether these drugs actively contribute to white matter pathology. By focusing on the understudied oligodendrocyte, the glial cell in the central nervous system that makes myelin in white matter, I am on the leading edge of a small but rapidly growing field approaching these neurological questions from a new perspective.