Single cell transcriptomics and epigenetics of the opioid use disorder and HIV syndemic in the human brain

As part of the NIH NIDA SCORCH consortium, we will dissect the dysregulated molecular circuitry in the brains of individuals with opioid use disorder and/or HIV infection. This project aims to identify genes that contribute to opioid use disorder and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. These approaches could lead to novel gene therapies to control and perhaps reverse the relentless disease state. We are in the process of generating snRNA-seq and snATAC-seq profiles from more than 300 patient samples across 3 different brain regions.