The primary focus of my lab is to study the inflammatory response that follows infection of a metastatic tumor ignition.

The main areas of my research interest include the innate and adaptive immune responses to respiratory pathogens and the mechanisms by which the innate immune system recognizes both pathogens and cancer cells.

The body’s initial response to infection involves a series of events characterized by the rapid up-regulation and recruitment of effectors molecules and cells, which facilitate the elimination of the pathogen and the restoration of homeostasis. However, this response is not unidirectional. The pathogen has developed complex strategies to initially challenge the immune system of the host but also to resist its counterattack successfully.

A better understanding of the virulence mechanism of the pathogen will contribute to the development of new strategies directed to fight the infection. In addition, the initial mechanisms in the host response directed to contain the infection will be studied.

The combination of the two previous perspectives will contribute to a better understanding of the immune response to the disease challenges, allowing the design of more effective ways to enhance the host immune response.

We are currently using state-of-the-art imaging techniques such as 2-photon intravital microscopy, and confocal microscopy to address some of the aforementioned questions.

These techniques enable the study of the interaction between the pathogen and the host in a completely new dimension, monitoring the cell-to-cell and microbe-to-cell interaction in real-time. In addition, we will use some classic imaging techniques, such as electron and scanning microscopy, in order to increase the resolution and structural information of the infected tissue or cell.

Video: 2-photon intravital microscopy video capturing the migration of neutrophils in the lymph node