Applied Immunology and Allergy
We are a junior research group committed to improving the everyday lives of individuals living with allergy, asthma, and other immune-driven diseases.
Our research centers on lung-to-brain and early-life immune regulation. Our core strength lies in the integration of animal and cellular models with clinical research – where we leverage our expertise in developing allergy and neuroimmune-specific assays, mechanistic mouse models, infection models and single-cell biology. By dissecting the allergic immune response across tissues and species, we aim to uncover novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of allergy and immune-driven diseases.
Our research focuses on
- Lung-to-brain immune regulation – investigating how airway allergy and asthma affect brain health and the underlining immune regulation at the barriers of the brain.
- Allergen-specific immune assays – developing sensitive assays to study innate and allergen-specific antibody and T cell responses in serum, lungs, draining lymph nodes, BAL fluid and in vitro cell systems.
- Advanced flow cytometry and single-cell technologies – decoding molecular cues and cellular networks in both human and mouse tissues.
- Type 2 immune cell regulation – mechanistically and functionally profiling of the allergic immune response, including eosinophil, ILC2, basophil, mast cell, dendritic cell, B cell, and T cell subsets.
- Animal behaviour and allergy – modelling cognitive function, acute allergic reactions, and chronic allergy in mice.
- Neuro-to-immune and immune-to-neuro communication – using ex vivo and in vitro models to dissect bi-directional signals between neurons and immune cells.
- Immunity to airway virus – employing viral propagation techniques, viral plaque assays, and infection models in cells and mice.
- Early-life immune regulation – developing human and mouse neonatal models to dissect the initial triggers of airway allergy.
