Focus Areas

Emerging roles of T cells in Transplantation

Although T cells are the primary drivers of transplant rejection and GVHD, recent discoveries have uncovered novel T cell subsets and cytokines that orchestrate the immune response and contribute to either tissue injury or repair.  Research at the STI addresses many of these emerging roles of T cells using cutting-edge cellular, molecular, and computational techniques.

Emerging roles of B cells in Transplantation

It is now recognized that B cells are not only precursors of Ab-producing cells but also have antigen-presenting, regulatory, and effector functions.  Our research efforts aim at understanding how these functions contribute to rejection and influence clinical allograft outcomes.

Innate Alloimmune Responses

The innate immune system plays an important role in initiating adaptive alloimmunity.  Researchers at the STI have discovered that innate immune cells respond to non-self determinants on the graft tissue and generate innate memory cells, in addition to causing the inflammation that enhances immunity.  We now aim to further understand the molecular mechanisms of these pathways and how they can be exploited to improve tissue typing or to prevent rejection.

Improving Clinical Outcomes

Despite remarkable progress in short-term allograft survival, improvement in long-term allograft survival has been incremental and remains suboptimal.  STI clinicians and researchers are advancing novel predictive biomarkers, diagnostics, therapies, and organ preservation strategies that bring us closer to the goal of “one transplant for life” without increasing the burden of immunosuppression.