Dr Selvamoorthi Gomathi is Assistant Professor at Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), Chennai. She has been working on HIV research for the last 14 years. Her research career involved studying the molecular characterisation of HIV drug resistance, sequence analysis and the difference in evolution of HIV drug resistance in non-B subtype. She has worked on standardising in-house genotyping assay for PR, RT and IN gene. She has also worked on several projects (ACTG & HPTN) pertaining to HIV drug resistance testing. Being from, and in, a developing country like India, where heterosexual transmission is predominant, she carried out her Ph.D. work in the inter-compartmentalization of HIV in blood and non-blood compartments (Genital Tract) of women. Dr Gomathi chose to study women due to the central role played by women in vertical (MTCT) and horizontal transmission of HIV. Her Ph.D. work emphasises the earlier results of genital tract acting as a separate reservoir of HIV which influenced her to further study the role of sex in the establishment of the HIV reservoir. Her current area of interest is to identify sex specific differences in HIV pathogenesis, immune activation and the establishment of latent reservoir persuading her towards cure strategies.