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The intestine (and other barrier tissues such as the skin and lung) is an incredibly fascinating microenvironment because it faces the complex task of maintaining health while directly interacting with the outside world. The primary goal of my mucosal immunology research program is to understand the underlying immune-microbial interactions that promote intestinal health across different settings ranging from parasitic helminth infection and inflammatory bowel disease to systemic inflammatory disorders. To discover these mechanisms, we use diverse experimental approaches including animal models of disease, human tissue samples, intestinal organoid cultures and deep sequencing of microbial and host gene expression patterns. Ongoing studies include:

1. Innate and adaptive immune responses against diverse pathogens including parasitic helminths, bacteria and fungi.
2. Immune cell regulation of tissue physiology during development and infection.
3. Mechanisms of disease tolerance to infection.
4. The impact of early life immune-microbial interactions on lifelong health.
5. Identification and functional validation of microbiomes in human health and disease.