Kiera Clayton

Kiera Clayton is an Assistant Professor at the UMass Chan Medical School, affiliated with both the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor's in Biochemistry from the same institution.

• Academic Appointments:
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, T.H. Chan School of Medicine
  • Assistant Professor, Immunology and Microbiology Program, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Dr. Clayton's research focuses on HIV pathogenesis, immune cell interactions, and viral reservoir dynamics. Her work explores T cell exhaustion, NK cell evasion, and immunomodulatory strategies for HIV treatment and cure. She develops novel assay technologies for immune cell analysis and investigates epigenetic and protein-targeting approaches to combat viral persistence.

Recent publications highlight her contributions to understanding TIM-3/CD8+ T cell interactions, HIV-macrophage resistance, and multi-pathogen immune responses. Her work intersects with innate immunity, cytokine signaling, and antiviral drug development.

Dr. Clayton collaborates with institutions like the University of Toronto and UMass Chan, with key co-authors including Lawrence Stern and Bruce Walker. Her research has been cited over 1400 times, with significant impact on HIV immunology and immune checkpoint therapies.