Ashley Haase

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Credentials

MD

Bio

Dr. Haase is Regents’ Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Minnesota. Dr. Haase has devoted his research career from the 1970s to the present to understanding the slow infections caused by lentiviruses from visna virus to SIV and HIV. The Haase lab pioneered approaches to visualizing animal lentivirus and HIV infections in vivo to reveal HIV lymphoid tissue reservoirs; covert infections enabling persistence despite immune defenses and ART; mechanisms of CD4 T cell depletion that limit immune reconstitution; and transmission mechanisms that lay foundations for developing effective microbicides and vaccines. His lab is currently exploring the role of productive and latent infections in resting CD4 T cells during ART with the aim of better Rx to move us closer to a functional cure for HIV infection. Dr. Haase is a NIH NINDS Javits Awardee and two-time recipient of an NIH MERIT Award for his work on HIV, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Microbiology, and a Fellow of the AAAS. He has served on the NIH Councils of NIAID and OAR, as the first Chair of the AIDS Research Advisory Council, and as Chair of the US Delegation for the U.S. Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program.

Research Summary

Viral pathogenesis, HIV My laboratory investigates the pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of lentiviral immunodeficiency infections caused by HIV-1 and its simian relative, SIV, using such technologies as in situ hybridization, in situ tetramer staining and quantitative image analysis to visualize infection and the hosts' cellular immune response in tissues. Much of our recent work has focused on sexual mucosal transmission and the acute stage of SIV infection, the roles of "resting" and activated CD4 T cells in establishing infection, and the mechanisms of the massive depletion of CD4 T cells in the gut. Going forward, these studies provide a foundation for studies of the correlates of protection for attenuated vaccines, and the development of vaccines and microbicides to prevent transmission. My laboratory has also undertaken a comprehensive microarray analysis of HIV-1 and SIV infections with the objectives of understanding pathogenesis and identifying novel targets for treatment and prevention. Current efforts focus on broadening the microarray analysis to encompass the early through late stages of HIV-1 infection, and mapping genes identified in the analysis to gain insight into their function in HIV-1 infected lymphatic tissues, the principal sites of virus production, persistence and pathology.

Recent Publications:

1. Kroon E, Chottanapund S, Buranapraditkun S, Sacdalan C, Colby DJ, Chomchey N, Prueksakaew P, Pinyakorn S, Trichavaroj R, Vasan S, Manasnayakorn S, Reilly C, Helgeson E, Anderson J, David C, Zulk J, de Souza M, Tovanabutra S, Schuetz A, Robb ML, Douek DC, Phanuphak N, Haase A, Ananworanich J, Schacker TW. Paradoxically Greater Persistence of HIV RNA-Positive Cells in Lymphoid Tissue When ART Is Initiated in the Earliest Stage of Infection. J Infect Dis. 2022 Jun 15;225(12):2167-2175. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac089. PMID: 35275599; PMCID: PMC9200151.
2. Wietgrefe SW, Duan L, Anderson J, Marqués G, Sanders M, Cummins NW, Badley AD, Dobrowolski C, Karn J, Pagliuzza A, Chomont N, Sannier G, Dubé M, Kaufmann DE, Zuck P, Wu G, Howell BJ, Reilly C, Herschhorn A, Schacker TW, Haase AT. Detecting Sources of Immune Activation and Viral Rebound in HIV Infection. J Virol. 2022 Aug 10;96(15):e0088522. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00885-22. Epub 2022 Jul 20. PMID: 35856674; PMCID: PMC9364797.
3.  Luca Schifanella, Jodi Anderson, Garritt Wieking, Peter J Southern, Spinello Antinori, Massimo Galli, Mario Corbellino, Alessia Lai, Nichole Klatt, Timothy W Schacker, Ashley T Haase, The Defenders of the Alveolus Succumb in COVID-19 Pneumonia to SARS-CoV-2 and Necroptosis, Pyroptosis, and PANoptosis, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2023;, jiad056, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiad056
4. Wu G, Zuck P, Goh SL, Milush JM, Vohra P, Wong JK, Somsouk M, Yukl SA, Shacklett BL, Chomont N, Haase AT, Hatano H, Schacker TW, Deeks SG, Hazuda DJ, Hunt PW, Howell BJ. Gag p24 Is a Marker of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Expression in Tissues and Correlates With Immune Response. J Infect Dis. 2021 Nov 16;224(9):1593-1598. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab121. PMID: 33693750; PMCID: PMC8599810.