James L. Riley

Dr. James L. Riley is a Professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He holds affiliations with the Center for Cellular Immunotherapy, Institute for Immunology, Diabetes Research Center, and Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. His research focuses on manipulating human T cell activation for therapeutic applications in HIV, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

• Education: BS in Molecular Biology (Vanderbilt, 1989) under mentor Charles K. Singleton, and PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology (Emory, 1994) under Jeremy M. Boss.

Dr. Riley’s lab investigates CD28 receptor signaling, adoptive T cell therapy, and HIV gene therapy. They engineer HIV-resistant CAR T cells for viral control and study T regulatory cell stability via TCR/CAR redirection. Their work explores metabolic pathway regulation in T cells during expansion, leading to clinical trials in HIV cure strategies and tumor-specific T cell therapies.

Recent publications highlight advancements in dual CAR T cell designs for HIV, tumor stroma targeting, and NK cell optimization. The lab’s 2024 preprint demonstrates Rab5’s role in overcoming CAR T cell dysfunction in tumor environments, while 2023 studies focus on cytokine-driven NK expansion and HIV-specific CAR T cell engineering.

Lab personnel include senior researchers (Xiaoling Jin, Meidi Gu), postdoctoral fellows (Kaitlin Read, Edmund Carvalho), and technical specialists (Emileigh Maddox). His work spans collaborations with clinical trial networks and translational research programs.