By Shannon Turgeon
Photography by Joshua Franzos
One of the most rewarding things about Aaron Devanathan’s research is how it enables him to approach hard-to-solve questions.
“I do clinical and translational science: starting with a clinical question, and reverse engineering a way to answer it that’s relevant to patients,” said Devanathan, assistant professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, School of Pharmacy.
He was drawn to chemistry and biology from a young age and later found himself interested in understanding how medicine works in the body: a combination that made a career in pharmacy a natural fit.
While pursuing a doctorate of pharmacy degree at Pitt, Devanathan did a rotation at a facility that provided care to people with HIV. He found himself fascinated with antiretrovirals (the medications that suppress HIV infection) and the barriers that prevented people from taking them.
He continued studying antiretrovirals while earning a second doctorate, a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, and completing a postdoctoral training program in North Carolina.
“I found myself asking questions that were very unique, and I realized that I needed a research-focused career to pursue my professional goals,” he said.
On Friday, Oct. 16, Devanathan will present “Integrase Inhibitor Exposure and Lipidomics to Assess Metabolic Effects” as part of the 2026 Senior Vice Chancellor's Research Seminar Series. (Join the lecture here.)
“Today, people with HIV have lifespans akin to people without HIV due to the success of antiretroviral therapy,” he explained.
However, these medications can cause adverse effects.
One class of medications known as integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) have been linked to weight gain and related cardiometabolic effects, but the reason for that is not well-understood.
With funding from the National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award, Devanathan is studying the relationship between four ceramides—inflammatory lipid species associated with cardiometabolic effects—and INSTIs.
“This is a new approach. To look at granular lipid species in the context of HIV is rare,” he said.
Devanathan and his research team use biological samples and data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study - Women's Interagency HIV Study Combined Cohort Study, which he describes as a “rich research network specifically looking at HIV-associated comorbidities.”
Their research methods include targeted lipidomics (measuring specific lipid species) and quantifying drug concentrations and biomarkers using the Small Molecular Biomarker Core.
He also collaborates with scientists from different fields, including virologists, immunologists and systems biology experts from organizations like the Rustbelt Center for AIDS Research.
“What we’re looking at is not the true final answer, but a piece of a much larger answer that requires experts from a lot of different scientific backgrounds. This makes the research very enriching,” he said.
Devanathan’s research has established that there is a link between the four inflammatory ceramide species and HIV. Ceramides are significantly increased in people with HIV who take INSTIs compared to people without HIV.
In addition, preliminary data has indicated that the relationship between INSTI exposure and ceramide levels differs between males and females with HIV.
Devanathan hopes that his research will bring forward a new era of precision medicine that will lead to precise monitoring of HIV-associated cardiometabolic effects and targeted interventions for patients with HIV.
“Our hope is to pioneer an era in HIV research called ‘antiretroviral pharmacolipidomics,’ and find biomarkers that could be of interest for us to monitor for adverse effects.”