Research Overview
The Hultquist lab specializes in the development and adaptation of high-throughput, quantitative, systems-based approaches for use in primary models of disease to better understand the host-pathogen relationship.
Pathogens are molecular machines selected over millions of years of co-evolution to exploit the cellular networks of their hosts for optimal replication and survival. This reliance on and manipulation of the host manifests itself in thousands of molecular changes that influence cellular function and may result in disease. A systematic, quantitative understanding of these changes is essential for the understanding of these disease states and for the development of next-generation therapeutics. Only recently, however, have technological advances in molecular measurement and manipulation allowed for the precise, high-throughput determination of mammalian cell architecture.
Leveraging diverse expertise in primary cell models, proteomic profiling, and functional genomics, we work at the intersection of systems biology and infectious disease, defining host-pathogen interactions and their consequences for replication and pathogenesis. Through these efforts, our lab ultimately hopes to strengthen the bridge from big data to targeted discovery to clinical application for the development of personalized, host-driven therapies and the advancement of human health.
Please explore a few of our ongoing projects below:
Research Areas
HIV-Human Network Biology
We are using primary cell genome engineering and proteomic profiling to explore cell type and donor specific functional networks required for HIV replication.
Host Cell Regulators of HIV Latency
We are exploring the relationship between endogenous host factors, early events in HIV replication, latency establishment, and provirus reactivation.
RNA Virus-Host Interactions
We are using a variety of new, high-throughput technologies and approaches to better characterize the physical and functional interactions that drive the replication of and host cell response to diverse RNA viruses.
SARS-CoV-2 Translational Research
We are using biochemical, virological, and molecular techniques to help understand the epidemiological origins or the virus and develop new predictive models of disease severity and patient outcome.