Postdoc
CurrentI investigate the biology of Interleukins of the IL-6/IL-12 family with respect to their role in T helper cell function and autoimmune disease. My work demonstrated that IL-27 is an extremely potent suppressor of TH17 cells, a newly discovered T helper cell type which has recently transformed the field. We showed that IL-27 is critical for downregulating the TH17 response in vivo and for limiting the severity of EAE (This work was published in Nature Immunology, 2006). I also showed that efficient development of IL-10-producing immuno-regulatory T cells is dependent on IL-27 signaling. IL-27 receptor deficient mice generated few IL-10+ T cells during autoimmune disease (EAE), as well as during infection with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes (J. Immunol., In press). I am continuing to study this family of cytokines, which play key roles during defense against pathogens and are also valuable targets for the development of therapeutics to combat autoimmune diseases.
