David Stirling

I am a PhD student on the 'Bench to Bedside' program in the Division of Infection and Immunity.

I am interested in the ability of HIV-1 to modulate macrophage function and its consequences on immune responses. This extends to investigating the impact that this has on responses to co-infecting pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

To study this I am using human primary monocyte-derived macrophage cultures, which allow me to examine different aspects of the immune response such as transcriptional activation, cytokine secretion and T cell interactions. I am particularly interested in determining the host mechanisms and virological determinants behind these phenomena.