Discovering new pathways of lymphocyte specification and function

The immune system helps us combat infection, but when it goes awry friendly-fire can cause chronic inflammation such as observed in the lungs of asthma sufferers. To perform successfully the weaponised immune cells must be selected carefully and recruited to precise locations so that they can attack disease or act as peacekeepers when necessary. This process requires a highly complex communication system that must act locally in the tissues, but also across the whole body. We discovered a new type of immune cell and want to understand how these specialised innate lymphoid cells (ILC), are instructed to develop and mature with distinct properties that allow them to co-ordinate discrete immune responses to specific infectious agents. We will develop methods to investigate how specific genes regulate immunity and help protect mice from experimental models of asthma and parasitic worm infection. Knowledge from these studies will inform on potential new therapies.