Principal Investigator
Souheil Younes, PhD
Assistant Professor
Pathology Advanced Translational Research Unit
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
View Faculty Profile | Publications
Dr. Younes obtained his microbiology-Immunology PhD degree from University of Montreal, Canada. Dr. Younes has an extensive knowledge in T cell homeostasis and in HIV-1 pathogenesis. This was acquired in Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly’s laboratory in which Dr. Younes worked intensively on understanding the mechanism behind the maintenance of HIV-1 specific CD4 T cells in HIV-1 infected patients. Thereafter Dr. Younes moved to the National Institute of Health (NIH) to investigate T cell homeostasis in mouse models under the supervision of Dr. William Paul where he performed studies on CD4 T cell cycling in mouse models. Then Dr. Younes joined Case western reserve university working on T cell homeostasis in the laboratory of Dr Michael Lederman thereafter Dr. Younes was promoted to the position of Assistant Professor then he joined PATRU at Emory University.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Younes continues to investigate T cell homeostasis. His current research interests include the role of mitochondrial dynamics in T cell homeostasis. Currently, Dr. Younes focuses on gut-derived bacterial toxins and their impact on the dysfunctional mitochondria that prevents CD4 T cell recovery in HIV-1 infection settings.
MANUSCRIPTS
Younes Lab Members
Amanda Cabral da Silva, MS
Visiting Fellow
Pathology Advanced Translational Research Unit
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
During her undergraduate, she studied the effect of a high-fat diet on somatic growth, metabolic parameters, and function of immune systems of young rats submitted to a maternal low-protein diet. Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil.
Later, in her master's, she investigated the Profile of microRNAs in Kidney Operational Tolerance and did some collaboration in the study of Regulatory T cells and heat shock proteins. Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute, São Paulo, Brazil.
At the same time, she helped in the development of materials for teaching immunology in the project “Immunology in Schools” for the popularization of science in Public Education. By iii-Institute for Investigative Immunology - National Institute of Science and Technology (iii-INCT), Brazil.
She worked as a flow cytometrist in the Clinical study of evaluation of the cellular immune response to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo- FMUSP, Medical Investigation Laboratory, LIM-60.
She joined the Younes Lab and PATRU in 2021.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
She currently works with Dr. Younes, where the current focus is to rescue dysfunctional mitochondria with the purpose of restore CD4 T cell count in Immune failure subjects.
Her current research interests include the recovery of CD4 cells in HIV and the plasticity of the immune system in infectious diseases of neonates.
PUBLICATIONS
Publications 1 • Publication 2 • Publication 3 • Publication 4
Amber Rittgers
Research Specialist Lead
Pathology Advanced Translational Research Unit
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Amber obtained her B.S. in Biology from North Georgia University. During this time, Amber studied molecular and population level genetics using both plant and animal models. She investigated genetic diversity in endemic plant species to aid in conservation efforts, as well as describe the gene expression patterns of developmental regulatory genes Hoxb6a and Hoxb6b in zebrafish.
Later, she earned her M.S. in Genetics at the University of Georgia investigating gene regulatory networks critical in limb development. Using CRISPR-Cas9-
mediated genome editing technology she worked to describe the roles of limb-specific genes such as pitx1 and tbx4 in the brown anole lizard.
She joined the Younes Laboratory and PATRU in March 2023.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Amber currently works with Dr. Younes, where the current focus is to determine the mechanisms that govern CD4 T cell lymphopenia in people living with HIV.
Her current research interests include identifying the mechanism that induces cellular and mitochondrial senescence with the purpose of restoring CD4 T cell levels in HIV-infected non-immune responders.
PUBLICATIONS
Rittgers, A. L., Le Pabic, P., & Davis, A. (2021). Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Hoxb6: An Exploration into the Divergence of Genomic DNA Sequence and Gene Expression Across Teleost Fishes Post-Genome Duplication. Georgia Journal of Science, 79(2), 2.
Sourav Sen Gupta
Visiting Fellow
Pathology Advanced Translational Research Unit
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Sourav earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Microbiology from the University of Calcutta in India. He then pursued his Ph.D. under the guidance of Prof. G. Balakrish Nair at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases in India. During his Ph.D., Sourav focused on identifying the causes of undiagnosed infectious diarrhea cases using advanced molecular techniques and exploring the non-random relationships between co-infecting diarrheal pathogens.
Following his Ph.D., Sourav joined the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute in India for his postdoctoral studies. During this period, he concentrated on investigating how the human gut microbiota contributes to the development of severe acute malnutrition in children under five years of age.
After his postdoctoral work, Sourav continued his research into understanding the ecology of the human gut microbiome in health and disease. Prior to joining the Younes Laboratory and PATRU in March 2023, he held the position of 'Research Scientist' at four different research institutes in India. During this time, he successfully secured external funding for projects aimed at elucidating and enhancing the structure of the gut microbiota in undernourished children using microbiota-targeted nutritional supplements.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Sourav currently works with Dr. Younes in understanding the role of gut derived toxins of microbial origin that perhaps are implicated in CD4 T cell lymphopenia and associated mitochondrial dysfunction in these cells in HIV-infected non-immune responders.
His current research interests include investigating differences in gut microbiota structure and immunological corelates in clinical cohorts of people living with HIV with or without immunocompetent levels of circulating CD4+ T-cell numbers. He also works on utilizing murine models to comprehend the role of these gut microbiota derived toxins in mitochondrial dysfunction and failure to restore CD4+ T-cell numbers in HIV-infected non-immune responders.
PUBLICATIONS: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GWezzUMAAAAJ&hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sourav-sen-gupta-1682a48a/