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Dr. Anton is the Director of the UCLA Center for HIV and Digestive Diseases and co-Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at UCLA. Dr. Anton’s research is in the field of mucosal immunology and was initially directed toward identifying mechanisms underlying the neuroimmunomodulatory responses in IBD. His expertise in T cell acquisition from endoscopic biopsies and interest in the mucosal immune system has been applied to the area of HIV pathogenesis. This has entailed optimizing assays for isolating mucosal T cells for phenotypic analysis by flow and quantitating HIV viral burden in the tissue (both HIV RNA and DNA). His current research uses these assays and other developing indices of mucosal immune response to assess (i) the degree of mucosal inflammation and altered co-receptor expression associated with HIV infection (and associated therapeutic interventions) and (ii) the potential use of the mucosa as a route of HIV immunization. Dr. Anton is active in the NIH-sponsored AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), Mucosal Immunology Focus Group, and in efforts to clarify the role of compartments in HIV pathogenesis.

Selected References:

Cole SW, Kemeny ME, Weitzman OB, Schoen M, Anton PA. Socially inhibited individuals show heightened DTH response during intense social engagement. Brain, Behavior and Immunity. 1999; 13:187-200.

Rawsthorne P, Shanahan F, Cronin NC, Anton PA, Löfberg R, Bohman L, Bernstein CN. An international survey of the use and attitudes regarding alternative medicine by patients with inflammatory bowel disease. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 1999; 94:1298-1303.

Goode T, O’Connell J, Anton P, Wong H, Reeve J, O’Sullivan GC, Collins JK, Shanahan F. Neurokinin-1 receptor expression in inflammatory bowel disease: molecular quantitation and localisation. Gut (England). 2000; 47(3):387-96.