The main focus of my laboratory is understanding infectious and non-infectious diseases of the lung, specifically how multiple lung diseases interact and influence each other. Using clinically relevant model systems we examine the impact of the lung microbiome on pulmonary diseases, alterations of the immune response during viral/bacterial coinfection, and the alteration of epithelial cells and tissue repair mechanisms during pulmonary infections, coinfections, and other lung diseases.

Biography

The main focus of my laboratory is understanding the pulmonary response to infectious diseases. Mucosal surfaces including the lung are constantly exposed to the environment and have a variety of mechanisms to protect from infection with pathogens including epithelial cells, resident cells of the immune system, and infiltrating immune cells. In addition, in order to survive an infection the delicate structure of the lung must be maintained. We wish to understand the interplay between the immune response in the lung and pulmonary tissue protection pathways. Using clinically relevant model systems we examine the impact of the lung microbiome on pulmonary diseases, alterations of the immune response during viral/bacterial coinfection, and the alteration of epithelial cells and tissue repair mechanisms during pulmonary infections, coinfections, and other lung diseases.