Defining cellular and molecular mechanisms of allergic and alloimmune antibody responses

Our Research

The lab is currently run by both Stephanie and Adam, and they team up with each one of the members to understand how dendritic cells, B cells and T cells interact to
induce tailored adaptive immune responses. Our work spans how this triad is
operational in the spleen to transfused red blood cells (RBCs), in the lung to
aeroallergens, and in the gut to food allergens, utilizing both mouse models and
human samples.

Our work has led to the identification of the dendritic cell
population that regulates T cell activation to allogeneic RBCs and the discovery
of a mechanism by which this population can be inhibited during transfusion.
Using RBC transfusion models, work from the Eisenbarth lab has also supported
a developing paradigm in which specialized migratory dendritic cell subsets
preferentially interact in domains enriched for CD4+ or CD8+ T cells to
selectively promote adaptive immune responses in the spleen. In the allergy field,
the lab recently discovered a new T follicular helper cell that drives IgE to
allergens. Such an understanding has important implications for potentially
altering and tracking the inappropriate immune response to food allergens. In
parallel, we are working to identify how the gut mucosal immune system
promotes the production of potentially protective IgA to food allergens instead of
pathogenic IgE.