How does the immune system maintain tissue integrity and function while clearing pathogens?

The air we breathe is teeming with bacteria and fungi, our skin and mucosal surfaces are home to trillions of bacteria, and our genome is littered with the remnants of countless viral infections. Our immune system must sift through this onslaught to respond to true threats in a manner that is tailored to the specific pathogen type and magnitude. Failure to clear a pathogen means the spread of infection, but overreaction leads to immune-driven tissue destruction, inflammatory disease, and fibrosis. Shockingly, the immune system only rarely fails.

We are obsessed with understanding this fine balance at the molecular, cellular, and whole organ scales. By exploring the feedbacks between the host and pathogen, which exist at multiple scales, we seek answers to these questions. We believe quantitative questions call for quantitative solutions, so we blend methods and concepts from classical immunology and host-pathogen interactions, with biophysics, systems biology, and machine learning. We like to follow questions across multiple scales, often starting at the single cell level and ending at whole organisms that we explore using light-sheet microscopy.

We believe that the primary goal of conducting excellent research is in training excellent scientists. The need for cross-disciplinary scientists with a deep understanding of infectious disease and advanced computational skills has never been more evident. We aim to create a diverse and inclusive space where trainees pioneer their own projects, have the freedom to explore ideas, and learn perseverance, accountability, teamwork, and professionalism.

We are faculty within the Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative PhD program at HMS, as well as the Immunology PhD program and the Biophysics PhD Program. Our lab is home to researchers with degrees and experience ranging from theoretical high energy physics to virology. We believe this cross-pollination across disciplines cultivates a vibrant and creative research environment.