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Smita S. Iyer, MS, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Pathology, Division of Experimental Pathology

Smita S. Iyer, MS, Ph. D | she/her

  • Associate Professor of Medicine
  • PI, Department of Pathology
  • Member, Program in Microbiology, and Immunology
  • Longitudinal Educator, 3RC
  • Co-Director, Pitt Scientist Wellbeing Initiative, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
  • Affiliate Scientist, Infectious Disease Unit, California National Primate Research Center, UC Davis

Dr. Iyer is a member of the Division of Experimental Pathology and the Cellular and Molecular Pathology Graduate Training Program.

Education & Training
Postdoctoral fellow, Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University
PhD, Emory University
MS, Purdue University
Research Interests

Dr. Smita Iyer is an infectious disease immunologist whose lab focuses on understanding the immunological and molecular mechanisms of CD4 T cell help in antibody responses, particularly in the context of HIV vaccines. Her research also explores the role of CD4 T cells in neuroinflammation, investigating viral infections like HIV and neurodegenerative diseases. The lab aims to understand immune responses that support the development of long-lived antibodies, using this knowledge to guide rational vaccine design. Additionally, her group is dedicated to uncovering the cellular basis of neuroinflammation in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.

Representative Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

  1. Elizaldi SR, Hawes CE, Verma A, Lakshmanappa YS, Dinasarapu AD, Schlegel BT, Rajasundaram D, Li J, Durbin- Johnson B, Ma ZM, Pal PB, Beckman D, Ott S, Raeman R, Lifson JD, Morrison JH, Iyer SS. CCR7+ CD4 T Cell Immunosurveillance Disrupted in Chronic SIV-Induced Neuroinflammation in Rhesus Brain. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2024;134(9). doi: https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI175332
  2. Gupta B, Rai RP, Pal PB, Rossmiller D, Chaudhary S, Chiaro A, Seaman S, Singhi AD, Liu S, Monga SP, Iyer SS, Raeman R. Selective Targeting of α(4)β(7)/MAdCAM-1 Axis Suppresses Fibrosis Progression by Reducing Proinflammatory T Cell Recruitment to the Liver. Cells. 2024;13(9).
  3. Elizaldi SR, Verma A, Ma ZM, Ott S, Rajasundaram D, Hawes CE, Lakshmanappa YS, Cottrell ML, Kashuba ADM, Ambrose Z, Lifson JD, Morrison JHM, Iyer SS. Deep Analysis of CD4 T cells in the Rhesus CNS during SIV infection. PLOS Pathog.  2023 Dec 7;19(12):e1011844.
  4. Verma A, Hawes CE, Elizaldi  SR, Smith JC, Rajasundaram D, Pedersen GK, Shen X, Williams LD, Tomaras GD., Kozlowski PA., Amara RR, Iyer SS. (2023) Tailoring Tfh Profiles Enhances Antibody Persistence to a Clade C HIV-1 Vaccine in Rhesus Macaques eLife 12:RP89395 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89395
  5. Barry PA, Iyer SS, Gibson L. Re-Evaluating Human Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Design: Prediction of T Cell Epitopes. Vaccines 2023, 11(11) 1629

View Dr. Iyer’s publications on PubMed