Manish Sagar MD
Professor, Infectious Diseases
Professor, Virology, Immunology & Microbiology
650 Albany St | (617) 414-5239manish.sagar@bmc.org
msagar@bu.edu
Sections
Infectious Diseases
Biography
Dr. Manish Sagar is a Professor of Medicine at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. My laboratory is primarily interested in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mucosal HIV-1 transmission and antibodies. One of our focus is to understand the biological mechanisms for the selection observed during HIV-1 transmission. Even though chronically infected subjects harbor extensive variants during transmission, only a limited number of viruses are acquired by newly infected partners. Genotypic examination of viruses present in the newly infected subject compared to those circulating in the transmitting partner suggests that the observed genetic bottleneck during transmission is not due to random chance. Laboratory studies explore the hypothesis that during transmission there is selection of specific variants with properties that confer fitness for transmission.
Another focus in the lab is to decipher correlate of immune protection. Even though infants are exposed to infected breast milk, only a small proportion (around 30%) acquire HIV-1 from their infected mother in the absence of antiretroviral protection. We hypothesize that maternally acquired antibodies present in the infant prevent HIV-1 acquisition either through neutralization or antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity against the variants circulating in the maternal breast milk. Defining the immune correlate of protection will have important implications for HIV-1 vaccine design. Our work focuses on understanding HIV-1 envelope and host antibody evolution and impact on disease pathogenesis.
Dr. Sagar has served on numerous committees including NIH study sections and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Early Career Development Award Review Committee. He is an active member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
Other Positions
Education
Medicine, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
BS, Columbia University
Publications
Heindel DW, Figueroa Acosta DM, Goff M, Yengo CK, Jan M, Liu X, Wang XH, Petrova MI, Zhang M, Sagar M, Barnette P, Pandey S, Hessell AJ, Chan KW, Kong XP, Chen BK, Mahal LK, Bensing BA, Hioe CE. HIV-1 interaction with an O-glycan-specific bacterial lectin enhances virus infectivity and resistance to neutralization by antibodies. Res Sq. 2024 Jan 03. PMID: 36824869.
Published on 10/24/2023Bean DJ, Monroe J, Liang YM, Borberg E, Senussi Y, Swank Z, Chalise S, Walt D, Weinberg J, Sagar M. Heterotypic responses against nsp12/nsp13 from prior SARS-CoV-2 infection associates with lower subsequent endemic coronavirus incidence. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 24. PMID: 37961343.
Published on 5/10/2023Esmaeilzadeh E, Etemad B, Lavine CL, Garneau L, Li Y, Regan J, Wong C, Sharaf R, Connick E, Volberding P, Sagar M, Seaman MS, Li JZ. Autologous neutralizing antibodies increase with early antiretroviral therapy and shape HIV rebound after treatment interruption. Sci Transl Med. 2023 May 10; 15(695):eabq4490. PMID: 37163616.
Published on 4/10/2023Adeoye B, Nakiyingi L, Moreau Y, Nankya E, Olson AJ, Zhang M, Jacobson KR, Gupta A, Manabe YC, Hosseinipour MC, Kumwenda J, Sagar M. Mycobacterium tuberculosis disease associates with higher HIV-1-specific antibody responses. iScience. 2023 May 19; 26(5):106631. PMID: 37168567.
Published on 2/1/2023Basukala B, Rossi S, Bendiks S, Gnatienko N, Patts G, Krupitsky E, Lioznov D, So-Armah K, Sagar M, Cheng C, Henderson AJ. Virally Suppressed People Living with HIV Who Use Opioids Have Diminished Latency Reversal. Viruses. 2023 Feb 01; 15(2). PMID: 36851631.
Published on 8/24/2022Bean DJ, Monroe J, Turcinovic J, Moreau Y, Connor JH, Sagar M. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reinfection Associates With Unstable Housing and Occurs in the Presence of Antibodies. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Aug 24; 75(1):e208-e215. PMID: 34755830.
Published on 5/10/2022Tu JJ, Kumar A, Giorgi EE, Eudailey J, LaBranche CC, Martinez DR, Fouda GG, Moreau Y, Thomas A, Montefiori D, Gao F, Sagar M, Permar SR. Vertical HIV-1 Transmission in the Setting of Maternal Broad and Potent Antibody Responses. J Virol. 2022 Jun 08; 96(11):e0023122. PMID: 35536018.
Published on 5/9/2022Thomas AS, Coote C, Moreau Y, Isaac JE, Ewing AC, Kourtis AP, Sagar M. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity responses and susceptibility influence HIV-1 mother-to-child transmission. JCI Insight. 2022 May 09; 7(9). PMID: 35324477.
Published on 1/10/2022Asundi A, Olson A, Jiang W, Varshney SP, White LF, Sagar M, Lin NH. Integrase Inhibitor Use Associated with Weight Gain in Women and Incident Diabetes Mellitus. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2022 03; 38(3):208-215. PMID: 34877881.
Published on 12/15/2021Bean DJ, Sagar M. Family matters for coronavirus disease and vaccines. J Clin Invest. 2021 12 15; 131(24). PMID: 34752421.
Media Mentions
Published on 1/11/2024
Published on 5/18/2023
Tuberculosis Disease Improves Antibody Response in Patients Coinfected With HIV
Published on 5/9/2023
HIV Antibody Response Intensified in Patients With Tuberculosis Disease
Published on 1/6/2022
Why Does Homelessness Increase the Risk of COVID-19 Reinfection?
Published on 11/16/2021
Homelessness, SDOH Increase Risk of COVID-19 Re-Infection
Published on 11/13/2021
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Reinfection More Likely to Occur in Homeless People
Published on 11/12/2021
Published on 11/9/2021
New Findings Point to a Promising HIV Vaccine Research Path
Published on 6/8/2021
COVID-19 Precautions Cut Rates of Common Respiratory Illnesses
Published on 4/15/2021
Are Face Masks Here To Stay Even After The Pandemic?
View full list of 27 media mentions.