Research Projects

Immune responses are initiated in lymphoid tissues such as the spleen and lymph nodes. Monocytes are polyvalent cells that can differentiate into inflammatory dendritic cells or macrophages following an injury or infection. In diseases such as cancer and chronic infection, monocytes differentiate into suppressive cells that inhibit immune responses. How monocytes are recruited into the spleen or lymph nodes and contribute to protection from infection is not fully understood. We recently found that fibroblasts express chemokines responsible for the recruitment of monocytes. This project will investigate how fibroblasts direct protective and pathogenic monocyte responses following infection and cancer. We will use a new mouse model that disrupt the fibroblast/monocyte crosstalk, infectious models and cancer, flow cytometry and confocal imaging.

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