The Suliman lab builds on the foundation of previous human cohort studies to pursue the following directions:From systems biology to innate correlates of TB progression: 1) The lab is following up on candidate pathways identified through systems biology experiments performed on samples from human cohorts of TB progressors and healthy Mtb-exposed counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. These genetic and transcriptional profiling studies point to candidate TB risk pathways including sodium/potassium ATPases and tyrosine metabolism enzymes in innate immune populations. The lab is functionally dissecting the roles of these genes using pharmacological inhibitors and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of primary human myeloid cells and Mtb infection experiments, followed by analysis of immunological and metabolic profiles, in order to define their roles in TB disease. 2) Point-of-care biomarkers to identify Mtb-exposed individuals at high risk of developing TB disease: Following previous studies on TB biomarkers and COVID-19 diagnostics, the lab leverages international collaborations and systems biology approaches to discover and validate easy-to-use biomarkers to identify individuals at high risk of progression to TB. The studies aim to down-select biomarkers with high accuracy for translation into point-of-care and near-patient prognostic biomarkers in diverse populations for active case finding, including those with other co-infections. 3) T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and Mtb: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome of Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Mtb are the two leading causes of mortality from infectious diseases globally. Failure to contain SARS-CoV-2 can be a result of the evolution of escape mutations that evade T cell responses. Similarly, in TB, the activation states and memory phenotypes of T cells can determine the quality of adaptive immunity against Mtb. Therefore, the quality and breadth of T cell responses are critical determinants of protection against both pathogens. It is unclear how the co-infections with Mtb and SARS-CoV-2 influence the inflammatory milieu and antigen-specific T cell responses that correlate with protection from progression to TB disease or severe COVID-19. The Suliman lab studies antigen-specific T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and Mtb in the context of co-infection with the two pathogens, evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants, and COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The Tana Lab researches health equity in autoimmune hepatitis. We follow a diverse cohort of patients and controls and collaborate with other centers internationally. We use biospecimens and novel technologies to improve understanding of mechanisms.

The Tang Lab investigates mechanisms of immunoregulation and incorporates concepts learned in novel therapies for taming immune responses in autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation.

The Tenthorey lab is broadly interested in the mechanics of how the innate immune system is built to withstand the evolutionary pressures of many different kinds of viral infections. One of the most difficult challenges that the innate immune system faces is an evolutionary problem: unlike adaptive immunity, innate immune proteins do not generate sequence diversity within an individual host. Nevertheless, their viral targets have massive evolutionary potential and can rapidly evolve to escape innate immune defense. In response, innate immune proteins evolve rapidly to select counter-mutations that regain defense, which viruses evolve to escape again, in an endlessly repeating evolutionary arms race. How can innate immune proteins possibly compete in these arms races, given that viruses evolve so much faster than their mammalian hosts? What strategies might allow for temporary or even long-term victory? To answer these fundamental questions, we dissect the evolutionary landscapes (the fitness of accessible sequence space around an extant protein) of innate immune proteins and their viral targets to map the possible evolutionary outcomes. We probe the biophysical features that make such landscapes possible, and we use the incredibly rich data to gain mechanistic insight.

The Tlsty Lab���������s main focus is on chronic inflammation, and its connection to cancer. Globally, an astounding 20-25% of cancers are linked to chronic inflammation, including cancers of the esophagus, bowel and pancreas. We are determining whether it's possible to treat the inflamed cells and tissues surrounding a tumor, rather than directing therapies at the tumor itself. Our project aims to find novel ways of treating cancer that has been caused by inflammation, and develop new options to prevent cancer developing in high-risk patients with chroni

The Turnbaugh Lab is an interdisciplinary group of microbiome researchers committed to understanding host-associated microbes, reducing these complex microbial ecologies to molecular mechanism, and applying these lessons to improve the practice of medicine. We are currently focused on two major areas: pharmacology and nutrition. We use a variety of inter-disciplinary approaches ranging from the molecular (biochemistry, bacterial genetics, structural biology) to the organismal (gnotobiotic mice, conventional animals, and human cohorts) to the ecological (synthetic microbial communities and metagenomic sequencing).

With over sixteen years of expertise in cancer and immunology, I have led projects focusing on cancer development, metastasis, and the tumor microenvironment. My research delves into the molecular mechanisms driving metastasis and tumor-host interactions.�

Dr. Wabl���������s research focus has been the generation of antibody diversity and the basis of autoimmunity. Specifically, the use of antibodies in tuberculosis therapy has been the main focus as of late. The challenge of antibody therapy exceeds the capacity of one person or a small academic lab, but can be explored in a larger setting. View Dr. Wabl�

The Waterfield Lab���������s main focus is to understand the basic mechanisms by which immune tolerance is broken. Specifically, the lab is interested in studying the role of epigenetics in the development of autoimmunity. In order to study the role of epigenetics in the development of autoimmunity, the lab utilizes a variety of novel conditional knockout mouse lines to study the effect of deletion of specific epigenetic prote

The Weiss Lab is interested in understanding how receptors involved in antigen recognition can initiate signal transduction events that regulate cell responses in the immune system. We know that receptors involved in antigen recognition functionally interact with tyrosine kinases and phosphatases, enzymes that regulate protein phosphorylation, to induce signaling pathways that regulate cellular responses and gene expression. We are using genetically selective small molecule inhibitors of kinases together with phosphatase mutants to study how thresholds for the initiation of immune responses are set and how feedback circuits influence responses. We would like to understand how the tyrosine kinases and phosphatases in these pathways are regulated and how they control cellular responses in development, in normal immune responses and in autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Wiita Lab focuses on the development of novel cancer immunotherapies. To do this, we aim to integrate our expertise in mass spectrometry-based proteomics, chemical biology, protein engineering, cellular engineering, and preclinical modeling. We have a primary interest in these therapies for the treatment of hematologic cancers spanning myeloid, lymphoid, and plasma cell malignancies.�

The Wilder Lab's goal is to understand how innate immune functions of lung epithelial cells regulate the development and progression of lung immunopathogenesis. Specifically, they are interested in investigating distinct immune gene expression and cellular responses controlled by interferon-specific dynamic control of the transcription factor ISGF3.