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Molecular Mechanisms of Immune Cell Development, Effector Function, Anti-Tumour Immunity, and Leukemogenesis.
Research in our lab centers on the molecular and transcriptional mechanisms that govern immune cell development and function, with a particular emphasis on how these processes influence innate and adaptive immunity and leukemogenesis. Our work investigates how lineage-specific transcriptional programs are established and how disruptions in these programs can lead to immune deficiencies, autoimmunity, and cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A major focus of the laboratory is on transcription factors and their antagonists—especially E proteins and their regulators like ID and ETS family proteins—that direct the differentiation and effector functions of lymphoid cell types including B cells, T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and innate lymphoid cells. Through genetic and genomic approaches, our group has elucidated critical roles for factors such as E2A, Notch1, LEF1, ID2/ID3, and ETS1 in lymphocyte fate decisions and functional maturation, and is advancing understanding of how these networks impact immune responses to infection and cancer as well as the mechanisms driving leukemic transformation. Current research includes a focus on how these transcriptional programs drive effective anti-tumor immune responses by natural killer cells.
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