Our Team — Research Enterprise to Advance a Cure for HIV

REACH Team

Program Directors

Brad Jones, PhD

Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY
Program Co-Director
Dr. Jones is a viral immunologist and an Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases with a cross-appointment in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He received his PhD in Immunology from the University of Toronto before beginning a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard in 2012. He currently serves as Principal Investigator of the Research Enterprise to Advance a Cure for HIV (REACH), one of the NIH’s flagship ‘Martin Delaney Collaboratories’. Dr. Jones is on the Steering Committee of the Global Scientific Strategy for an HIV Cure initiative of the International AIDS Society (IAS), and co-Chairs the IAS Advocacy-for-Cure Academy – which focuses on raising awareness on the state of HIV cure research in the global South.
Marina Caskey, MD

Rockefeller University - New York, NY
Program Co-Director
Dr. Caskey is a Professor of Clinical Investigation at The Rockefeller University, and a member of Michel Nussenzweig’s Laboratory of Molecular Immunology. Dr. Caskey received her medical degree from the Federal University of Sergipe, in Brazil, and completed specialty training in infectious disease at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she remains an attending physician. Dr. Caskey joined Rockefeller as a clinical scholar in the lab of Ralph Steinman in 2009, and has spent the last decade working on clinical studies of experimental immune-based vaccines and therapies, particularly those for HIV. Since becoming a member of Nussenzweig’s lab in 2012 she has led human trials of broadly neutralizing antibodies as a complement to antiretroviral therapy for HIV.

Program Management

Adam Ward, PhD MS

Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY
Program Manager & Biostatistician
Adam Ward is the Program Manager and Biostatistician for REACH. In this capacity, he helps to manage day-to-day operations of the Collaboratory and facilitate scientific interactions between its members. He also works on the design and analysis of REACH-related clinical and basic science research studies. Prior to his current role, Adam was a Research Assistant and then a Research Associate in the lab of Brad Jones from 2016-2021. Adam recently completed his PhD in epidemiology from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, and holds a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from North Carolina State University.
Jessica Salzwedel, MA

AVAC - New York, NY
Community Engagement Coordinator
Jessica is the Community Engagement Coordinator for REACH and Senior Program Manager of Research Engagement at AVAC, where she leads the organization’s HIV cure research program. Jessica focuses on translating complex science into lay language, creating capacity building programs for stakeholders to meaningfully participate throughout the research lifecycle and advocating for increased stakeholder participation throughout research.
Adriana Barillas-Batarse, MA

Rockefeller University - New York, NY
Program Coordinator
Adriana Barillas-Batarse is currently the Assistant Director of Finance and Clinical Programs for the Vaccine Center at The Rockefeller University and serves as Program Coordinator for REACH. Adriana grew up in Guatemala, graduated with her BA at the University of Houston, and her MA at the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Paris. Prior to joining Rockefeller, Adriana worked at the US Department of Justice as a Project Manager in the Language Analyst Division and as a Communications Officer for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation-France.
Ryann Mcquaid

Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY
Finance Manager