Research Projects
Rotavirus
Protection from enteric viral infection at young age and lifelong consequences: Rotavirus
Rotavirus infections are a major global health burden, mostly affecting young children. Vaccines exist and provide high protection in high income countries but show less efficiency in those countries where they are most needed. We study the immune response to rotavirus to define immunological pathways that are needed for long-term protection. We are particularly interested in the effects that breastmilk antibodies might have on immune development in the nursing child (in response to Rotavirus and in general), hoping to better understand the post-natal immune system development in the context of maternally provided training. Our projects aim to aid vaccine design specifically tailored to the young and to shed light on the impact that early life enteric infection might have on life-long immune health.
Key publications:
Nakawesi et al., Muc Imm. 2021
Dendritic cells
Priming the adaptive immune system according to context: Dendritic cell subset development and function
Dendritic cells are powerful educators of the body’s adaptive immune system. Different subsets of dendritic cells orchestrate different flavors of T cells, ensuring that the resulting immune response is precisely fitting the needs. Engagement of the correct subset of dendritic cells is important for pathogen elimination without negative side effects, such as autoimmunity or allergy and it is therefore essential to engage the correct subset when designing interventions in the form of vaccines. A remaining difficulty is that a precise understanding of the specific character of the individual dendritic cell subsets, including their development, specifications, and functions is still lacking. Ongoing projects in the lab currently focus on our previous findings that the transcription factors Bcl6 and Blimp-1, well known for their role in T and B cells, also affect distribution, phenotype, and function of dendritic cells. With our work, we hope to contribute to the understanding of the biology of dendritic cells, which serves as an important foundation to harness the power of these immune cells in preventative and therapeutic interventions.
Key publications:
Ulmert et al, Immunology, 2020