Our body’s epithelial barriers, such as the skin, lungs and gut, interface with the external world and consequently are exposed to inflammation inducing stimuli, pathogens and carcinogens. We are studying how immune, parenchymal and epithelial cells sense and cope with inflammation in an effort to identify mechanisms of inflammatory resolution. Conversely, inflammation is critical to achieve optimal healing. We aim to define the immune factors that promote healing, but may also promote carcinogenesis.

Conceptually, for a barrier tissue to effectively learn from previous immunological experiences, it must sense, adapt, and store this information (i.e. memory) in readily accessible permanent resident cell types. We are interested in exploring how memories of previous immune events (i.e. inflammatory memory) enables barrier tissues (airway, intestine, and skin) to recall diverse environmental exposures, informing future responses. We are particularly interested in further understanding our knowledge that epithelial stem cells, amongst other parenchymal, stromal, neuronal, and immune cell subsets, can form inflammatory memory, raising the possibility of distributed memory formation.

We study how host-commensal interactions train our epithelial barriers. In particular, we are interested in identifying the spatial and functional interactions between microbes, epithelial cells (either stem or differentiated cells) and immune compartments at steady state and during inflammation.