Reed is a graduate student at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He joined the Brusko Lab in the summer of 2024 to investigate how specific HLA genotypes influence the development and selection of autoreactive T cells in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).
His current work involves stimulating T cells with T1D-relevant autoantigens to isolate and sequence activation-enriched T cell receptors, followed by bioinformatic analysis to identify T cell repertoire features linked to HLA-associated disease risk or protection. In parallel, Reed is analyzing human pancreatic tissue samples to conduct fluorescent microscopy and spatial transcriptomic analysis, aiming to integrate tissue-level context with immune profiling data.
Through this combined approach, Reed aims to clarify how HLA-mediated shaping of the T cell repertoire contributes to contributes to either tolerance or autoimmunity in T1D, ultimately laying the groundwork for more targeted and effective immunotherapies.
Reed earned his Bachelor of Science in Health Science from the University of Florida in 2024. As an undergraduate, he volunteered in the Ostrov Lab in the Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, where his work led to multiple publications on the structural biology of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
Publications
- Schutte R, Berkowitz RL, Li D, Ostrov DA. (2025). “HLA and Drug Hypersensitivity.” Encyclopedia of Immunobiology, 2nd Edition, edited by Kaye P, Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824465-4.00225-8
- Berkowitz RL, Ostrov DA. (2024). “Structural and functional properties of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein: potential vaccine and drug development for COVID-19.” Understanding the Pandemic: Pathophysiology, Transmission, and Treatment of COVID-19, edited by Chatterjee S, Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-19170-1.00013-9
- Berkowitz RL, Bluhm AP, Knox GW, McCurdy CR, Ostrov DA, Norris MH. (2023). Sigma Receptor Ligands Prevent COVID Mortality In Vivo: Implications for Future Therapeutics. J. Mol. Sci., 24, 15718. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242115718
- Berkowitz RL, Ostrov DA. (2023). The Elusive Coreceptors for the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein. Viruses 15, 67. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15010067
Contact
Email: reedberkowitz@ufl.edu