Zachary Klase, PhD
Principal Investigator

Rachel VanDuyne, PhD
Faculty

Angel Lin
Lab Manager

Aarohee Bhattarai
PhD Student, Klase Lab
I am pursuing my PhD in the Pharmacology and Physiology program at Drexel University, which I joined in August 2023. I became part of the Klase Lab in July 2024, where we focus on the intersection of HIV-1 transcription, HIV neuropathogenesis, and substance use disorders. My project integrates wet-lab experiments and bioinformatics to explore the role of epigenetic modifications, particularly histone changes, in cocaine abuse and HIV. I am also pursuing a graduate minor in bioinformatics, which helps solidify my skills in data analysis and computational techniques. I use approaches such as tissue processing, nuclei imaging, and machine learning with the support of the Dampier Lab to better understand how these modifications influence gene expression and neural function. By combining experimental and computational methods, I aim to deepen our understanding of these complex systems.

Zachary Capriotti
PhD Student, Klase Lab
I am a PhD student in the Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics program. I joined the Klase Lab in 2023 as a masters student and recently transitioned into the PhD program after completing my masters degree in 2024. I am interested in the concept of innate immune memory, whereby innate immune cells are epigenetically and metabolically reprogrammed by previous inflammatory stimuli, which leads to altered responses to secondary stimuli. I am particularly curious about whether HIV induces a form of innate immune memory called trained immunity in cells of the central nervous system like microglia and astrocytes, and whether this contributes to or exacerbates neuroinflammation and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.

Courtney Wallace
PhD Student, Klase Lab
My name is Courtney Wallace and I am a MCBG PhD student in the Klase lab. Since joining the lab in 2022, my research interests have been centered in molecular virology, epigenetics, and the effects of drugs of abuse in the central nervous system. My current project investigates the global epigenetic status of HIV-1 infected human monocyte derived macrophages (hMDMs) and the impact of infection on global epigenetic reprogramming. I am also investigating the effects of viral replication in response to benzodiazepine treatment, a class of anti-anxiolytics that has been shown to exacerbate symptoms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder in people living with HIV.