Lab Information
Cecilia Costiniuk (MD/MSc)
ScientistCentre for Translational Biology
Department of Medicine (McGill)
Research Profile
Keywords
HIV • HIV reservoirs • chronic lung disease • pulmonary inflammation • pulmonary immunity • vaccine immunogenicity • endocannabinoidsResearch Interests
My research focuses on factors associated with accelerated chronic lung disease in HIV infection. Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy (ART), individuals with HIV are at increased risk of chronic lung disease which cannot be accounted for by smoking alone. My lab examines the lungs as HIV reservoirs and factors within the pulmonary milieu which facilitate HIV persistence and increased chronic lung disease, despite effective ART. Similarly, I examine factors associated with vaccine immunogenicity in people with HIV in order to inform vaccination strategies. These studies are complemented by my work on the expanded endocannabinoid system as a potential target to reduce HIV reservoir sizes, inflammation and ultimately comorbidities.Team Members
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Latest Publications
- Fava, V. M., Dallmann-Sauer, M., Orlova, M., Correa-Macedo, W., Olivenstein, R., Costiniuk, C. T., Routy, J.-P., Barreiro, L. B. & Schurr, E. (2026). Continuous antiretroviral therapy induces progressive senescence-like reprogramming of alveolar macrophages. Frontiers in immunology, vol. 17, p. 1805936.
- Diego-Matos, A.-K., Frias Boligan, K., Mboumba Bouassa, R.-S., Durand, M., Tremblay, C., Chartrand-Lefebvre, C., El-Far, M., Messier-Peet, M., Giffard-Bouvier, J., Margolese, S., Ancuta, P., Kema, I., Costiniuk, C. T. & Jenabian, M.-A. (2026). Gut-heart immuno-metabolic disruption associated with inflammaging and subclinical coronary artery disease in people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. Immunity & ageing : I & A, vol. 23.
- Wang, L., Samarani, S., Fadzeyeva, E., Vigano, M., As'sadiq, A., Vulesevic, B., Ahmad, A. & Costiniuk, C. T. (2026). Cannabidiol Regulates CD47 Expression and Apoptosis in Jurkat Leukemic Cells Dependent upon VDAC-1 Oligomerization. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 19.
- Lu, J., Vulesevic, B., Margolese, S., Masching, R., Tharao, W., Cardinal, C., Hedrich, T., Mallais, C., Dubé, K., Cohen, E., Chomont, N. & Costiniuk, C. T. (2025). The CanCURE Survey: Gender-Based Differences in HIV Cure Research Priorities. Journal of personalized medicine, vol. 15.
- Isnard, S., Berini, C. A., Parvathy, S. N., Feng, H., Aiyana, O., Royston, L., Mabanga, T., Lakatos, P. L., Bessissow, T., Klein, M. B., Lebouché, B., Costiniuk, C. T., Routy, B., Silverman, M. S. & Routy, J.-P. (2025). Fecal microbiota transplantation to reduce immune activation in ART-treated people with HIV with low CD4/CD8 ratio: protocol for the single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Gutsy study (CIHR/CTN PT038). Trials, vol. 27, p. 52.
- Righetti, R., Cinque, F., Lebouché, B., Ramos Ballesteros, L., Routy, J.-P., Klein, M. B., Szabo, J., Cox, J., Falutz, J., Haraoui, L.-P., Costiniuk, C. T., De Pokomandy, A., Pembroke, T., Constante, M., Santos, M. & Sebastiani, G. (2025). Distinct Gut Microbiota Signatures Are Associated with Severity of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in People with HIV. International journal of molecular sciences, vol. 26.
- Giorgini, G., Silvestri, C., Mboumba Bouassa, R.-S., Muller, C., Frias Boligan, K., Kalkan, H., Routy, J.-P., Flamand, N., Di Marzo, V., Jenabian, M.-A. & Costiniuk, C. T. (2026). Impact of Oral Cannabinoids on the Endocannabinoidome and Gut Microbiome in People with HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy (CTN PT028 Pilot Clinical Trial). Cannabis and cannabinoid research, p. 25785125251366052.
- Margolese, S., Reinhard, R., Masching, R., Mohammadzadeh, N., Ancuta, P., Angel, J. B., Routy, J.-P., Walmsley, S., Chomont, N. & Costiniuk, C. T. (2025). Reflections upon a life well-lived: A tribute to Ron Rosenes. Journal of virus eradication, vol. 11, p. 100599.
- Darwish, I., de Varennes, B., Fiset, P. O., Camilleri-Broët, S., Lash, V., Cantarovich, M., Lee, T. C. & Costiniuk, C. T. (2025). A renal transplant recipient with a pulmonic valve mass. Cardiovascular pathology : the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology, p. 107745.
- Vigano, M., Kubal, S., Habib, S., Samarani, S., Kasvis, P., Koudieh, N., Kilgour, R., Farzin, H., Ahmad, A., Vigano, A. & Costiniuk, C. T. (2025). Cannabidiol and multi-modal exercise for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in cancer survivors. Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, vol. 33, p. 534.
See also
