Seema N. Desai, Ph.D.
NIMHD staff are deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Dr. Seema N. Desai in April 2024. Widely recognized for her scientific contributions to HIV and aging and immune mechanistic programs, she is dearly missed by many friends and colleagues.
Program Director
Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Seema N. Desai is a Program Director in the Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences at NIMHD. She is an immunologist, microbiologist, and HIV research scientist with multidisciplinary minority health research experience. Dr. Desai’s experience spans from pediatric to geriatric research: basic, biobehavioral, clinical, and translational. Her research focuses on HIV and racial disparities; HIV, stress and depression; HIV and addiction; HIV and HIV/HCV pathogenesis; HIV, aging and end-organ diseases; and HIV and women’s health.
Dr. Desai received her master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in microbiology for her HIV/AIDS research in India from the University of Mumbai. She conducted her postdoctoral training at University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine in Florida, studying innate immunity in HIV-infected children and adolescents.
Prior to joining NIMHD, Dr. Desai served as an instructor and assistant professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Desai has led laboratory research and studies in various epidemiological cohorts including the Southern HIV and Alcohol Research Consortium (SHARC), the Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV and Aging (CEDHA), and the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) (now the MACS/WIHS combined cohort study).
Dr. Desai has been a principal investigator for various NIH-funded studies, has served on editorial boards, and has earned numerous accolades throughout her career, including several prestigious national and international scholarships and awards.
Selected Publications
- Peters, B. A., Moon, J. Y., Hanna, D. B., Kutsch, O., Fischl, M., Moran, C. A., Adimora, A. A., Gange, S., Roan, N. R., Michel, K. G., Augenbraun, M., Sharma, A., Landay, A., Desai, S., & Kaplan, R. C. (2022). T-Cell Immune Dysregulation and Mortality in Women With Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 225(4), 675–685. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiab433
- Desai, S.N. & Landay, A, L. (2018). HIV and aging: role of the microbiome. Current opinion in HIV and AIDS. 13(1):22-27. https://doi.org/10.1097/COH.0000000000000433
- French, A. L., Martin, J. W., Evans, C. T., Peters, M., Kessaye, S. G., Nowicki, M., Kuniholm, M., Golub, E., Augenbraun, M., Desai, S. N., & WIHS (2017). Macrophage Activation and the Tumor Necrosis Factor Cascade in Hepatitis C Disease Progression Among HIV-Infected Women Participating in the Women's Interagency HIV Study. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes, 76(4), 438–444. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000001524
- Desai, S. N., Dodge, J. L., Landay, A. L., Glesby, M. J., Latham, P. S., Villacres, M. C., French, A. L., Gange, S. J., Greenblatt, R. M., & Peters, M. G. (2016). Hepatic fibrosis and immune phenotype vary by HCV viremia in HCV/HIV co-infected subjects: A Women's interagency HIV study. Medicine, 95(33), e4483. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000004483
- French, A. L., Evans, C. T., Agniel, D. M., Cohen, M. H., Peters, M., Landay, A. L., & Desai, S. N. (2013). Microbial translocation and liver disease progression in women coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 208(4), 679–689. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jit225
- Desai, S., & Landay, A. (2010). Early immune senescence in HIV disease. Current HIV/AIDS reports, 7(1), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11904-009-0038-4
- Desai, S., Chaparro, A., Liu, H., Haslett, P., Arheart. K., Scott, G., Pahwa, R. & Pahwa, S. (2007). Impaired CCR7 expression on plasmacytoid dendritic cells of HIV-infected children and adolescents with immunologic and virologic failure. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes, 45(5), 501-507. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0b013e3180654811
Page updated April 29, 2024
