Sex-specific adipose tissue imprinting of regulatory T cells. Vasanthakumar A, et al. in Nature, February 26, 2020 Metabolites released from apoptotic cells act as tissue messengers. Medina C, et al.

Vaccines and antibody therapeutics are two of the most promising measures to counteract SARS-CoV-2, and subsequent COVID-19 disease. While there is some overlap between these two approaches, there are some key distinctions to be drawn... Click the graphic to the left to learn the basics!

Members of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation are making extraordinary advances in health and medicine. VI4 is developing therapies for the treatment of infection, autoimmunity, and cancer. At the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic is the laboratory of VI4 member, Dr. James Crowe.... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Dr. Serezani completed his PhD at the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Michigan. He also completed his postdoctoral studies at University of Michigan. He was an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and has published more than 50 papers in reputed journals. The NIH and other foundations have funded his laboratory for almost 10 years. The Serezani laboratory aims to develop therapeutic strategies to control systemic (sepsis) and localized infections (skin and lung) in healthy individuals, individuals with immune deficiencies, and those suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes. They have concentrated much of their efforts in understanding the role of the lipid mediators leukotriene B4 and prostaglandin E2 and their actions on microRNAs, epigenetic changes and phosphatases to modulate immune cells involved in the control of microbial infection in these different contexts..... Click Dr. Serezani's photo to continue reading.

N6-methyladenosine modification enables viral RNA to escape recognition by RNA sensor RIG-I. Lu M, et al. in Nature, April 5, 2020 Targeted selection of HIV-specific antibody mutations by engineering B cell maturation. Saunders K, et al.

Justin M. Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Cancer Biology and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. He received his Pharm.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo and his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Balko's laboratory is focused on improving treatment outcomes in breast cancer (particularly triple-negative breast cancer) as well as in other solid tumors. To accomplish this, they integrate data from genomic and molecular profiling studies with molecular biology and signal transduction methodologies to translationally identify altered pathways in cancer, the functional consequences of these alterations, and ways to directly target them in patients to improve clinical outcomes and survival. These efforts span in silico (publically available databases), in vitro (cell culture), in vivo (mouse and human clinical studies) and in situ (histology) methods. The lab has a strong interest in the intersection between new immunotherapies and tumor cell signaling pathways.... Click Dr. Balko's photo to continue reading.

Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation. Wrapp D, et al. in Science, March 13, 2020 MAIT cells are imprinted by the microbiota in early life and promote tissue repair. Constantinides, M, et al.