Dr. Mitch in the Laboratory


 

The primary focuses of my lab are...

 

(I) ... on the mechanisms that lead to the development of allergic disease.  In particular, we believe that allergic disease is a result of normal response to viral infections.  Our hope is to identify new avenues for therapeutic intervention based on these studies.

 

(II) ... on how dendritic cells modulate an immune response to viral airway inflammation.  Some individuals when they get a viral infection of their lungs (such as with respiratory syncytial virus) go on to develop asthma.  I hope to be able to modulate immune responses so that these viral illness can be prevented from leading to asthma.

What are dendritic cells?  Well, in a nut-shell these are AWESOME cells that eat up foreign (and not so foreign) stuff, digest it, and then, like a 5 year old child, run around and show off their digested stuff to other cells (T cells, in particular) of the immune response.  Yum, yum!!!

Another interest in the lab...

...involves the cells of the immune system and how they travel through the body.

 

Did you ever wonder how the white blood cells know when, where, and how to get out of the blood stream and into sites of infection?

NO?

 

Well, this is what I am studying--the why and how white blood cells leave the blood stream and enter peripheral tissues at sites of inflammation.

Specifically, I am studying a class of adhesion molecules, called integrins, and their role in allergic inflammation.

Learn about adhesion molecules in Dr. Mitch's classroom!

 

 

Check out the Grayson Lab Web page!!!

 

Have questions?  Send me email!


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Last update:  January 20, 2012.