Giacomo Butta Wins Best Poster Award!

Simon Lab Postdoc Giacomo Butta won the best poster award at the “Obstacles to the HIV Endgame: Science and Society” meeting hosted Center for Aids Research (CFAR) on Monday, February 9, 2026!

His poster, titled “Non-productive HIV infection in CD4+ T memory stem cells is marked by three immunoregulatory gene sets,” examined how latently infected CD4+ T cells represent a major hurdle in HIV eradication. By employing the pMorpheus reporter virus, Giacomo and other lab members successfully characterized three immunoregulatory gene sets that define immediate-early, non-productive HIV infection in a subset of stem-like memory cells, TSCM. These results indicate that a localized immunosuppressive environment may be established at the onset of infection, potentially facilitating the long-term persistence of the viral reservoir.

Congratulations Giacomo!