Misson Statement
Dr. Peter J. Gaskill
The research focus of the Gaskill lab focuses on the focuses on the impact of dopamine and substances that modulate it, such as stimulants and neuropsychiatric medications, on the innate immune response. Our current projects a) examine the mechanisms by which activation of the dopaminergic system in immune cells drives HIV infection and enhances the development of neuroHIV, b) determine the dopamine signaling pathways in immune cells by which this neurotransmitter drives the activation of innate immune pathways such as NF-kB, cGAS-STING and the NLRP3 inflammasome and c) define the pathway by which Cocaine acts on Sigma-1 to enhance HIV infection in CNS macrophages. These projects use a variety of myeloid cell models, including primary human macrophages, iPSC-derived microglia and macrophages and iPSC-derived human brain organoids patterned on cortical and mid-brain regions. Many of our experiments use high-content imaging to perform unbiased, high-throughput analysis of large, heterogenous cell populations and molecular targets in response to many distinct stimuli. Combining these high content analyses with molecular and cell biology techniques enables us to focus specifically on the molecular mechanisms regulating the involvement of myeloid cells in disease processes.
Gaskill Lab News
May 2026
Yash Agarwal, Dr. Gaskill and Dr. Matt's paper on "Epigenetic Regulation of Inflammation by Dopamine in Primary Human Macrophages" is accepted to Frontiers in Immunology
Dr. Gaskill presented new data on dopamine mediated mitochondrial dysregulation and how it drives the cGAS-STING inflammatory pathway at Dopamine2026 in Sevilla, Spain
Dr. Gaskill co-chaired (with Dr. Habibeh Khoshbouei) and presented at a symposium on the role of dopamine in immune regulation at the annual Society for Neuroimmune Pharmacology meeting in Annapolis, MD
Yash Agarwal won 1st place for best graduate student poster at the Society for Neuroimmune Pharmacology meeting in Annapolis, MD
April 2026
Dr. Gaskill presented data in a symposium on Dopamine Neurotransmission: New Frontiers in Intersystemic Signaling and Psychostimulant Regulation at the American Society for Neurochemistry in St. Louis, Missouri
Dr. Danielle Williams joins the lab as a postdoctoral fellow from the Swanstrom lab at UNC-Chapel Hill after defending her thesis on "Cannabinoids Restrict Early Post-Entry Events During Macrophage Tropic HIV-1 Infection in a Primary Microglia Model"
Dr. Matt chairs and presents at a symposium on Translational Neurobiology in Patient-Derived Systems: Uncovering Neuroimmune Mechanisms of Disease
March 2026
Dr. Oluwatofunmi Olwuadumininu Oteju successfully defended her thesis on Defining Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Driving Cocaine-Mediated Modulation of HIV Replication in Human iPSC-Derived CNS Macrophage Models
Dr. Gaskill and received an MPI R01 along with the Barker lab to perform Cross-model investigation on the role of inflammasomes in the neurobehavioral and transcriptomic effects of cocaine exposure and HIV infection
The Gaskill lab co-authored a publication with the Jordan-Scuitto lab on "Neuroinflammatory crosstalk between microglia and astrocytes increases viral replication in an iPSC-derived model of CNS HIV infection"
Marzieh Daniali received a travel award and oral presentation at the EMBO workshop Pathogen Immunity & Signalling in Leiden, Netherlands in June
Drs. Lupone and Brantly published their co-authored publication "High-throughput high content quantification of HIV-1 viral infectious output" in PLOS One
Amanda Modica and Yash Agarwal both received travel awards and oral presentations at the upcoming Society for Neuroimmune Pharmacology meeting in Annapolis in May 2026
February 2026
Yash Agarwal received his F30 from the NIDA to study "Dopamine D1-like receptor stimulation promotes HIV neuroimmune pathogenesis in iPSC-derived human cortical assembloids"
Oluwatofunmi Oteju just got her F31 from NIDA for her project on "Uncovering Mechanisms Contributing to Enhanced NeuroHIV with Cocaine Use"
January 2026
The Qiang and Gaskill labs received a new WW Smith Foundation award "Next-generation human brain organoids uncover mechanisms and therapeutic targets for glutamate dysregulation and vascular injury in HIV-associated neurodegeneration"
Alumni Alexis Brantly and Teresa Lupone had their manuscript "High-throughput High Content Quantification of HIV-1 Viral Infectious Output" accepted for publication at PLOS One!!!