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Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD | Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases

Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD

Associate Professor, Goonetilleke Lab

Contact Information

Appointments:

Address

Office:
120 Mason Farm Road
GMB LEVEL 2 RM2017, CB# 7042
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Resources

Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD

Associate Professor, Goonetilleke Lab

Areas of Interest

Human T cell immunology, Immunobiology of HIV, HCMV and chlamydial infections, T cell vaccinology and immunotherapy against viral infections and viral-associated malignancies

About

Dr. Goonetilleke’s group focuses on the immunobiology of a range of infectious diseases, mostly with the view to iteratively develop T cell based therapies or vaccines to prevent or control infections. They also serve as an Immunology Specialty Laboratory (UNC ISL) for the global HIV treatement network, the ACTG.

Awards and Honors

  • Yang Family Biomedical Scholar (2021)

Memberships

  • Director, ACTG Immunology Speciality Laboratory (UNC) ACTG Executive Committee (2022-2024)

In the news

  • CROI-Logo

    IGHID Investigators Participate in CROI Conference

    Investigators with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) participated in the 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco, California, March 9-12. Following are some highlights.   In a CROI preview, Joe Eron, MD, was interviewed for the “Going Anti-Viral” IAS-USA podcast, discussing the state of HIV cure research … Read more

  • Nilu-Goonetilleke-CROI-Interview

    Nilu Goonetilleke Discusses Latest HIV Research During CROI 2025

    Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD, a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and associate professor of medicine, was interviewed by Contagion Infectious Diseases Today during CROI, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. She discussed two studies that she led with first author Cindy Gay, MD, MPH. The interviews were posted on March 10. … Read more

  • IAMIGHID-Cure-Center

    IAMIGHID: Spotlighting the HIV Cure Team

    HIV/AIDS has been around for approximately 40 years, but many researchers say the end is in sight. The question is, will it be in our lifetime or just around the corner? This is a spotlight on the HIV CURE Center, comprising approximately 55 researchers and students, featuring David Margolis, MD, the director, Nancie Archin, PhD, a … Read more

Education

  • Undergraduate

    University of Queensland

  • PhD

    Open University, United Kingdom