Celina Abreu, MSc, PhD

Dr. Abreu earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Genetics and Evolution from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. She completed her doctoral research in molecular virology and viral evolution, focusing on HIV pathogenesis and viral reservoirs. In 2016, she joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow.

In 2020, Dr. Abreu became a Research Associate in the Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at Johns Hopkins. Her research focuses on HIV/SIV persistence, viral latency, and the contribution of myeloid cells—including monocytes, macrophages, and tissue-resident populations—to the maintenance of viral reservoirs in non-human primate models. Her work has also advanced the understanding of neuroHIV, HIV replication within the central nervous system, and methods for measuring viral reservoirs.