Sushama Telwatte, PhD

Assistant Adjunct Professor

Dr. Telwatte received her undergraduate degree (Biomedical Science with First Class Honours) and Ph.D in Virology from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She undertook her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Yukl M.D. Dr. Telwatte is presently an Adjunct Instructor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the VA and her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that govern HIV latency and gaining insight into the transcription and replication strategy employed by SARS-CoV-2.

Education
Postdoctoral Studies, 03/2020 - Infectious Diseases (HIV), San Francisco VA Medical Center
Ph.D, 09/2015 - Virology, Monash University
BSc (Hons), 11/2008 - Biomedical Science, Monash University
- Infectious Diseases (HIV), University of California, San Francisco
Publications

  1. Telwatte S, Martin HA, Marczak R, Fozouni P, Vallejo-Gracia A, Kumar GR, Murray V, Lee S, Ott M, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Novel RT-ddPCR assays for measuring the levels of subgenomic and genomic SARS-CoV-2 transcripts. Methods (San Diego, Calif.) 2021. PMID: 33882362


  2. Telwatte S, Kumar N, Vallejo-Gracia A, Kumar GR, Lu CM, Ott M, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Novel RT-ddPCR assays for simultaneous quantification of multiple noncoding and coding regions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Volume 292. Journal of virological methods 2021. PMID: 33667568


  3. Telwatte S, Kumar N, Vallejo-Gracia A, Kumar GR, Lu CM, Ott M, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Novel RT-ddPCR Assays for determining the transcriptional profile of SARS-CoV-2. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2021. PMID: 33469579


  4. Yukl SA, Khan S, Chen TH, Trapecar M, Wu F, Xie G, Telwatte S, Fulop D, Pico AR, Laird GM, Ritter KD, Jones NG, Lu CM, Siliciano RF, Roan NR, Milush JM, Somsouk M, Deeks SG, Hunt PW, Sanjabi S. Shared Mechanisms Govern HIV Transcriptional Suppression in Circulating CD103+ and Gut CD4+ T Cells. Journal of virology 2020. PMID: 33115867


  5. Moron-Lopez S, Telwatte S, Sarabia I, Battivelli E, Montano M, Macedo AB, Aran D, Butte AJ, Jones RB, Bosque A, Verdin E, Greene WC, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Human splice factors contribute to latent HIV infection in primary cell models and blood CD4+ T cells from ART-treated individuals. Volume 16 of Issue 11. PLoS pathogens 2020. PMID: 33253324


  6. Telwatte S, Kim P, Chen TH, Milush JM, Somsouk M, Deeks SG, Hunt PW, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Mechanistic differences underlying HIV latency in the gut and blood contribute to differential responses to latency-reversing agents. AIDS (London, England) 2020. PMID: 32910065


  7. Neidleman J, Luo X, Frouard J, Xie G, Hsiao F, Ma T, Morcilla V, Lee A, Telwatte S, Thomas R, Tamaki W, Wheeler B, Hoh R, Somsouk M, Vohra P, Milush J, James KS, Archin NM, Hunt PW, Deeks SG, Yukl SA, Palmer S, Greene WC, Roan NR. Phenotypic analysis of the unstimulated in vivo HIV CD4 T cell reservoir. eLife 2020. PMID: 32990219


  8. Hsiao F, Frouard J, Gramatica A, Xie G, Telwatte S, Lee GQ, Roychoudhury P, Schwarzer R, Luo X, Yukl SA, Lee S, Hoh R, Deeks SG, Jones RB, Cavrois M, Greene WC, Roan NR. Tissue memory CD4+ T cells expressing IL-7 receptor-alpha (CD127) preferentially support latent HIV-1 infection. PLoS pathogens 2020. PMID: 32353080


  9. Lee SA, Telwatte S, Hatano H, Kashuba ADM, Cottrell ML, Hoh R, Liegler TJ, Stephenson S, Somsouk M, Hunt PW, Deeks SG, Yukl S, Savic RM. Antiretroviral Therapy Concentrations Differ in Gut vs. Lymph Node Tissues and Are Associated With HIV Viral Transcription by a Novel RT-ddPCR Assay. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) 2020. PMID: 32168200


  10. Telwatte S, Morón-López S, Aran D, Kim P, Hsieh C, Joshi S, Montano M, Greene WC, Butte AJ, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Heterogeneity in HIV and cellular transcription profiles in cell line models of latent and productive infection: implications for HIV latency. Retrovirology 2019. PMID: 31711503


  11. Telwatte S, Lee S, Somsouk M, Hatano H, Baker C, Kaiser P, Kim P, Chen TH, Milush J, Hunt PW, Deeks SG, Wong JK, Yukl SA. Gut and blood differ in constitutive blocks to HIV transcription, suggesting tissue-specific differences in the mechanisms that govern HIV latency. PLoS pathogens 2018. PMID: 30440043


  12. Wagstaff KM, Headey S, Telwatte S, Tyssen D, Hearps AC, Thomas DR, Tachedjian G, Jans DA. Molecular dissection of an inhibitor targeting the HIV integrase dependent preintegration complex nuclear import. Volume 21 of Issue 1. Cellular microbiology 2018. PMID: 30216959


  13. Yukl SA, Kaiser P, Kim P, Telwatte S, Joshi SK, Vu M, Lampiris H, Wong JK. HIV latency in isolated patient CD4+ T cells may be due to blocks in HIV transcriptional elongation, completion, and splicing. Science translational medicine 2018. PMID: 29491188


  14. Trapecar M, Khan S, Roan NR, Chen TH, Telwatte S, Deswal M, Pao M, Somsouk M, Deeks SG, Hunt PW, Yukl S, Sanjabi S. An Optimized and Validated Method for Isolation and Characterization of Lymphocytes from HIV+ Human Gut Biopsies. Volume 33 of Issue S1. AIDS research and human retroviruses 2017. PMID: 28882052


  15. Khan S, Telwatte S, Trapecar M, Yukl S, Sanjabi S. Differentiating Immune Cell Targets in Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue for HIV Cure. Volume 33 of Issue S1. AIDS research and human retroviruses 2017. PMID: 28882067


  16. Telwatte S, Brumme CJ, Hearps AC, Latham CF, Hayward JA, Sonza S, Sluis-Cremer N, Harrigan PR, Tachedjian G. Increasing prevalence of K65K and K66K in HIV-1 subtype B reverse transcriptase. Volume 30 of Issue 18. AIDS (London, England) 2016. PMID: 27677159


  17. Telwatte S, Hearps AC, Johnson A, Latham CF, Moore K, Agius P, Tachedjian M, Sonza S, Sluis-Cremer N, Harrigan PR, Tachedjian G. Silent mutations at codons 65 and 66 in reverse transcriptase alleviate indel formation and restore fitness in subtype B HIV-1 containing D67N and K70R drug resistance mutations. Volume 43 of Issue 6. Nucleic acids research 2015. PMID: 25765644


  18. Telwatte S, Moore K, Johnson A, Tyssen D, Sterjovski J, Aldunate M, Gorry PR, Ramsland PA, Lewis GR, Paull JR, Sonza S, Tachedjian G. Virucidal activity of the dendrimer microbicide SPL7013 against HIV-1. Volume 90 of Issue 3. Antiviral research 2011. PMID: 21459115