Sarah A. LaMere, DVM, PhD

Overview

I am a veterinarian focused on comparative medicine, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSD with training in retrovirology, immunology, and epigenetics. I have a strong interest in the “One Health” philosophy, which espouses that cross-talk between the human and animal medical professions will help to advance both fields. My original research focus was on understanding the pathogenicity of retroviruses in wildlife species, particularly in cetaceans. However, I turned my attention to the fields of epigenetics and immunology with the perspective that I could apply what I learned about these processes to our understanding of how they impact retroviral latency and reactivation in multiple species, allowing us to decipher their pathogenic potential. In humans, it is well established that people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) will maintain persistent reservoirs of the HIV provirus, and elucidating the epigenetic processes guiding persistence and reactivation will allow us to develop more effective strategies for eliminating this reservoir. I am currently using cutting-edge epigenomics assays, including single-cell strategies, to evaluate the chromatin conformation and epigenetic modifications of both the human genome in the context of HIV infection and the HIV provirus itself to study HIV persistence in tissues.

Education & Training

Research & Funding

Publications

1. The HIV Reservoir and Immune Landscape Across the Life Course of Women: Implications for Cure Strategies. Hastie E, Khetan P, LaMere SA, George AF, Abelman R, Weber K, Tien PC, Auerbach JD, Karris M, Brown T, Karn J, Willenberg L, Averitt D, Picou B, Roan NR, Scully EP, Dubé K, Archin N, Gianella S. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2026. PubMed
2. Differential CpG methylation in the Interferon Gamma (IFNG) promoter correlates with viral load and transcriptional control in people with HIV. Srivatsa MS, Tahmida M, Tenenbaum T, Little SJ, LaMere B, Gianella S, LaMere SA. Epigenetics. 2026. PubMed
3. Central Nervous System T-cell immune architecture, and not HIV burden, tracks with cognition under long-term viral suppression. Trunfio M, Caballero G, Gomez-Moreno V, Mallal SA, Wanjalla CN, Jones A, Beeri K, Wells A, LaMere S, Gouaux B, Franklin DR, Corley M, Ellis RJ, Moore DJ, Letendre SL, Smith D, Chaillon A, Gianella S. PLoS Pathog. 2026. PubMed
4. Epigenetic mechanisms of retroviral regulation: a comparative review. Shin SY, Tahmida M, Beliakova-Bethell N, LaMere SA. Epigenetics Chromatin. 2026. PubMed
5. Estrogen depletion and immune activation and inflammation in women with HIV. LaMere SA, George AF, Roan NR, Archin NM, Hastie E, Scully E, Gianella S. Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2026. PubMed
6. Epigenetic motifs distinguishing endogenous from exogenous retroviral integrants. LaMere S, Xiong H, Wang W, LaMere B, Moshiri N. J Virol. 2025. PubMed
7. Challenges in Quantifying Cytosine Methylation in the HIV Provirus. LaMere SA, Chaillon A, Huynh C, Smith DM, Gianella S. mBio. 2019. PubMed
8. Microdroplet PCR for Highly Multiplexed Targeted Bisulfite Sequencing. Komori HK, LaMere SA, Hart T, Head SR, Torkamani A, Salomon DR. Methods Mol Biol. 2018. PubMed
9. H3K27 Methylation Dynamics during CD4 T Cell Activation: Regulation of JAK/STAT and IL12RB2 Expression by JMJD3. LaMere SA, Thompson RC, Meng X, Komori HK, Mark A, Salomon DR. J Immunol. 2017. PubMed
10. Promoter H3K4 methylation dynamically reinforces activation-induced pathways in human CD4 T cells. LaMere SA, Thompson RC, Komori HK, Mark A, Salomon DR. Genes Immun. 2016. PubMed
11. Defining CD4 T cell memory by the epigenetic landscape of CpG DNA methylation. Komori HK, Hart T, LaMere SA, Chew PV, Salomon DR. J Immunol. 2015. PubMed
12. Dynamic Epigenetic Regualtion of CD4 T Cell Activation and Memory Formation LAMERE, SAH Dissertation, Scripps Research Institute 2015. SRI
13. Library construction for next-generation sequencing: overviews and challenges. Head SR, Komori HK, LaMere SA, Whisenant T, Van Nieuwerburgh F, Salomon DR, Ordoukhanian P. Biotechniques. 2014. PubMed
14. Finding the active genes in deep RNA-seq gene expression studies. Hart T, Komori HK, LaMere S, Podshivalova K, Salomon DR. BMC Genomics. 2013. PubMed
15. New opportunities for organ transplantation research: epigenetics is likely to be an important determinant of the host immune response. LaMere SA, Komori HK, Salomon DR. Epigenomics. 2013. PubMed
16. Application of microdroplet PCR for large-scale targeted bisulfite sequencing. Komori HK, LaMere SA, Torkamani A, Hart GT, Kotsopoulos S, Warner J, Samuels ML, Olson J, Head SR, Ordoukhanian P, Lee PL, Link DR, Salomon DR. Genome Res. 2011. PubMed
17. Phylogenetic analysis of marine mammal herpesviruses. Maness HT, Nollens HH, Jensen ED, Goldstein T, LaMere S, Childress A, Sykes J, St Leger J, Lacave G, Latson FE, Wellehan JF. Vet Microbiol. 2011. PubMed
18. Molecular characterization of a novel gammaretrovirus in killer whales (Orcinus orca). LaMere SA, St Leger JA, Schrenzel MD, Anthony SJ, Rideout BA, Salomon DR. J Virol. 2009. PubMed