About Dr. Gaskill

I have been interested in the neuropathogenesis of HIV for longer than I have been a scientist, starting when I learned my mother had HIV in 1992. Seeing the way HIV affected her memory and behavior focused my interest on the impact of HIV in the brain, a significant and overlooked aspect of HIV infection.

I did my graduate research with Dr. Howard Fox at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, using the Rhesus macaque model of SIV infection to define the genotypic and phenotypic features of neurovirulent viral strains. This research drew my attention to the critical role of the neuropathologic, cognitive and behavioral features now known as HIV associated brain injury (HABI) and for which our current treatment paradigms are insufficient. This led me to post-doc with Dr. Joan W. Berman at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where I examined the role of monocytes and macrophages as the central drivers of neuropathogenesis. These studies expanded my focus, examining both the neuropathogenesis of HIV itself, specifically examining viral kinetics in myeloid cells, as well as the impact of myeloid exposure to dopamine, which is increased by the use of all addictive substances.

When I came to Drexel in 2016, the focus of my research remained on HIV neuropathogenesis and the impact of substance abuse, but shifted to encompass the growing impact of ART on infection of myeloid cells. Currently, my laboratory uses molecular biology, high content imaging and pharmacology to examine the receptors, signaling pathways and genetic changes regulating HIV infection and inflammatory activity in human myeloid cells in the presence of dopamine, methamphetamine and ART.

I feel strongly that this type of research has taken on greater importance in light of the increasing use neurotransmitter modulating therapeutics, such as anti-depressants and anti-anxiolytics. The effects of these drugs on neurotransmission are well understood, but their neuromodulatory effects generally remain unclear. I believe that defining the mechanism(s) by which exogenously induced changes in neurotransmitters influence immune function and/or alter viral infectionis critical to effectively combating infection and disease in todays increasing medicated world.