Feeney Laboratory

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1 post-doctoral fellow, 1 research technologist , 1 research technician

Dr. Feeney's research interests center on the immunopathogenesis of HIV infection in perinatally infected infants and children. The broad goals of her research efforts are to elucidate the developmental differences between antiviral T cell responses in children and adults, and to identify correlates of protective HIV-specific immunity to guide the rational design of HIV vaccines and immunomodulatory therapies. Dr. Feeney’s group is engaged in clinical, immunologic, and virologic studies of HIV-infected children and of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. These studies emphasize the adaptation of state-of-the-art techniques for the analysis of antigen-specific T cells to small infant blood samples, and are enriched by international collaborations with colleagues in South Africa and the Caribbean where perinatal HIV infection remains common.

Development of approaches for genome-wide evaluation of HIV-specific T cell responses using small samples available from infants and children
First description of HIV viral escape in infancy, and the development of de novo T cell responses to emerging viral escape variants
Demonstration of escape within an immunodominant Gag epitope preceding breakthrough viral replication and loss of immunologic control of viremia
First description of the greater intrinsic capacity of children to reconstitute HIV-specific CD4 T cell responses on HAART

Detailed functional analysis of HIV-specific T cells in acutely infected infants
Studies of viral escape and reversion following mother-to-child transmission
Analysis of immunologic, viral, and host genetic factors associated with the ability of children to spontaneously control viremia without antiviral therapy (“elite controllers”)
Identification of target cell populations for infection by HIV in the mucosal tissues of neonates
Clinical and operational research studies of HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections in developing countries.

Selected Publications of Interest:

Feeney ME, Roosevelt KA, Tang Y, Pfafferott K, McIntosh K, Burchett S, Mao C, Walker BD, Goulder PJR. Comprehensive screening reveals strong and broadly directed HIV-1-specific CD8 responses in perinatally infected children. The Journal of Virology 2003; 77(13):7492-7501.
Feeney ME, Draenert R, Roosevelt KA, Pelton S, McIntosh K, Burchett SK, Walker BD, Goulder PJR. Reconstitution of virus-specific CD4 proliferative responses in pediatric HIV-1 infection. The Journal of Immunology 2003; 171(12): 6968-75.
Feeney ME, Tang Y, Roosevelt KA, Leslie A, McIntosh K, Karthas N, Walker BD, Goulder PJR. Immune escape precedes breakthrough HIV-1 viremia and broadening of the CTL response in a HLA-B27-positive long-term nonprogressing child. The Journal of Virology 2004; 78(16):8927-8930.
Feeney ME, Tang Y, Pfafferott KJ, Roosevelt KA, Draenert R, Trocha A, Yu X, Verrill C, Allen TA, Moore C, Mallal S, Burchett S, McIntosh K, Pelton SI, St. John MA, Hazra R, Altfeld M, Walker BD, Goulder PJR. HIV-1 viral escape in infancy followed by emergence of a variant-specific CTL response. The Journal of Immunology 2005, 174: 7524-7530.
Feeney ME, Tang Y, Rathod A, Kneut C, McIntosh K. Absence of detectable viremia in a perinatally HIV-1 infected teenager following discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2006; 118(2):324-30.