Doctoral student Jonathan Lochner has won a predoctoral Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service (F31) Award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his research project, “Restoring HLA-I Expression to Enhance CD8 T Cell-Mediated Clearance of HIV-Infected Cells.”
Lochner studies the effect of latency reversing agents (LRAs) on HIV-infected CD4 T cells. While HIV-1 can be controlled by antiretroviral therapy, the virus can still remain in latent reservoirs, unrecognized by the immune system. An LRA investigational drug can “shock” and reawaken the sleeping virus, allowing the immune system to then target and “kill” the infected cells. Lochner’s grant funded project will study the proteins involved in this process, and his findings will inform strategies to optimize immunotherapies that improve CD8 T cell-medicated clearance of HIV reservoirs and advance cure-focused approaches.
Lochner joined the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Integrated Biomedical Sciences (IBS) program in 2023 and is pursuing a PhD in microbiology and immunology. He is mentored by Alberto Bosque, PhD, MBA, associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine.
In preparing his F31 application, Lochner emphasized how the grant will benefit his training and development as a scientist in addition to writing about the science involved in his project. He was motivated by both the prospect of funding and the recognition of independence the grant provides. Lochner is also looking forward to using the grant’s support to attend scientific conferences, which will allow him the opportunity to present his research and network with other scientists.
He found the grant-writing process was easier because of the IBS’s grant-style qualifying exam process, and he benefited from the perspectives of his mentor and colleagues, especially fellow labmate and IBS PhD student Claudia Melo, who earned an F31 herself in 2024.
Since 2024, Lochner has been a trainee of GW’s HIV Persistence, Comorbidities, and Treatment Training Program (HIVPeCoT-TP), led by Bosque and Sanjay Maggirwar, PhD, MBA, chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine and funded by an NIAID/NIH T32 grant.
