Rate My Professor Stephanie Dillon

Stephanie Dillon, PhD, serves as Associate Research Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She obtained her PhD in Immunology from the University of Otago, New Zealand, in 1999, following a BSc (Hons) from the same university in 1994. After completing postdoctoral training with Dr. Bali Pulendran at Emory University, she joined the University of Colorado School of Medicine in December 2005 within Cara C. Wilson's laboratory, focusing initially on interactions between HIV-1 and human blood dendritic cells. She progressed through the ranks, becoming an Instructor in 2007, Assistant Research Professor in 2014, and Associate Research Professor, reflecting her sustained contributions to infectious diseases research.

Dillon's research adopts a basic and translational perspective to investigate HIV-1's effects on intestinal immune cell function and the gut microbiome, alongside the influence of physiological aging on gut immunity and microbial composition in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. A member of the Society for Leukocyte Biology and the Society for Mucosal Immunology, she has authored numerous impactful publications, including 'Healthy Aging and the Gut Microbiome in People With and Without HIV' (J Infect Dis, 2025), 'Death and survival of gut CD4 T cells following HIV-1 infection ex vivo' (PNAS Nexus, 2024), 'Endogenous retroelement expression in the gut microenvironment of people living with HIV-1' (EBioMedicine, 2024), 'Microbiota-dependent indole production stimulates the development of collagen-induced arthritis in mice' (J Clin Invest, 2023), 'Gut Innate Immunity and HIV Pathogenesis' (Curr HIV/AIDS Rep, 2021), 'A Unique Gut Microbiome-Physical Function Axis Exists in Older People with HIV' (AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses, 2021), 'The gut microbiome and HIV-1 pathogenesis: a two-way street' (AIDS, 2016), and 'An altered intestinal mucosal microbiome in HIV-1 infection is associated with mucosal and systemic immune activation and endotoxemia' (Mucosal Immunol, 2014). Her findings have been showcased in prominent forums such as the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), Keystone Tissue Immunity Conference, and HIV Vaccines Symposia, addressing topics like colonic Granzyme B+ CD4 T cells, interferomes in HIV pathogenesis, and commensal bacteria's role in HIV-1 infection of gut CD4+ T cells. Dillon's work has significantly advanced insights into HIV gut pathogenesis, mucosal immune activation, dysbiosis, and aging-related comorbidities.