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At the Brown Lab we’re studying how signals from the tissue environment shape the fate and function of immune cells and the mechanisms by which they reciprocally regulate tissue homeostasis and host immunity.

At the heart of an immune response are antigen-presenting cells, sentinels of the immune system that are uniquely poised to regulate the balance between immunity, inflammation and tolerance.

Our studies have identified novel antigen-presenting cell lineages and highlighted their functional diversity across tissues, development, health, and disease.

In the study of antigen-presenting cells and their cross talk with immune and stromal cells, the scope of our research extends across three distinct yet complementary areas


EARLY LIFE IMMUNITY AND TOLERANCE

We have identified a wave of previously uncharacterized antigen-presenting cells that play a critical role in establishing tolerance to the gut microbiota and food during early life. 


Tissue Regeneration

 We have uncovered dendritic cell lineages with complementary roles in tissue repair, tolerance and inflammation. Using novel genetic models to temporally perturb dendritic cell lineages our research addresses the cellular circuitry between dendritic cells, immune and stromal cells.


CANCER IMMUNOLOGY

Our goal is to delineate how distinct antigen-presenting cell subsets orchestrate tumor immunity and tolerance, uncovering cellular and molecular signatures that predict response to therapy and revealing novel therapeutic targets.

A signature of our research is a two-way transition between human immunology studies and mechanistic studies in experimental models

In our work the input is ideas and cells from human immunology; the output is insights into mechanisms of immune regulation, in health and disease.

This reverse translation, from clinic to mechanism, is achieved through sophisticated human immune profiling, genetically engineered mouse models and computational modeling.

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