Dr. Dionna Williams

Biography

Dionna W. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the challenges posed by HIV, particularly regarding its eradication and the existence of anatomical reservoirs where viral replication occurs even in the face of successful antiretroviral therapies. The brain poses a unique challenge as an HIV reservoir, having the capability to become infected shortly after primary infection and being separated from the rest of the body by the blood-brain barrier, which limits the accessibility of treatment. Her lab investigates the neuroimmune responses associated with HIV infection and the impact of drugs of abuse and antiretroviral therapies that may exacerbate neurological dysfunction. Dionna's work is highly translational and includes collaborations across various fields such as neurology, psychology, computational biology, and microbiology. Ongoing projects in her lab encompass the study of antiretroviral therapy's extravasation across the blood-brain barrier and the role of cannabidiol in modulating peripheral inflammatory responses, as well as the effects of monocyte migration on cognitive decline.

Research Interests