The Stranford group research interests involve the study of immunologic correlates to protection from retroviral infection and disease progression. We have studied several potential correlates to protection from HIV, including noncytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses, in uninfected high-risk populations. Currently, we use an animal model system in the laboratory (Murine Leukemia Virus-induced Mouse AIDS) to investigate early immune response patterns following MuLV infection, comparing disease susceptible and resistant mouse strains for clues to pathways that mediate effective pathogen clearance and immune protection. We use molecular tools to evaluate differential lymphoid tissue gene expression patterns, including host-pathogen DNA microarrays and quantitative real-time PCR assays. These patterns of expression are then confirmed and further explored for their functional significance using several protein assays, including cytokine ELISAs, flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy.