Research focus
Our group is working to understand human immune system variation between individuals and within individuals over time. We are interested in the factors that determine this variation and in particularly their influence early in life as they imprint on the developing immune system and shape its composition and function for with long-term consequences. We are also interested in understanding how these phenomena relate to the risk of severe infections, malignancies and immune mediated diseases.
To understand systems-level behaviors in the human immune system, we develop and apply novel experimental and data analysis tools that allow for comprehensive analyses of blood samples using mass cytometry, cell sorting and sequencing-based approaches. By simultaneously analyzing all blood cell populations from different individuals over time, their frequencies and functional states, and combining such analyzes with plasma protein measurements, we are aiming for systems-level characterization of this system in order to understand its regulation.
By combining the immune system analyses with microbiome analyses, biometrics and individual exposure data, we are hoping to understand how various influences shape immunity in humans.