Dr. Mailliard’s research focuses on the central role played by dendritic cells (DCs) in the induction and regulation of the immune response. He is also interested in the non-classical “helper” functions of NK cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and their influence on DC function during infection and vaccination. His goal is to have a better understanding of basic immunity for the purpose of developing more effective cellular based immunotherapy strategies to treat chronic diseases including HIV and cancer. His work has led to the development of the first clinically applicable type-1 polarized dendritic cell-based vaccine platform (alpha-DC1), which is currently being explored in clinical trials for the treatment of different cancers and HIV. His lab is currently exploring the use of DCs as an HIV immunotherapeutic “kick and kill” tool to both drive HIV latency reversal and to prime cytotoxic T cell responses against the infected CD4+ T cell reservoir as a functional cure strategy.