Prior Funding

CD8+ T cells are instrumental in protecting the host from a variety of infections and malignancies. These cells recognize foreign antigens, expand up to 50,000-fold in only a few days, and eliminate pathogens through the direct killing of infected cells and production of inflammatory cytokines. After the pathogen is cleared, many of these CD8+ T cells die, but a small population of ‘memory’ cells remain to provide immunity should we encounter the same pathogen again. Many of these CD8+ T cells reside in our body’s mucosal and barrier surfaces, and these tissue-resident memory T (Trm) cells stay positioned in tissues throughout life and are poised to respond rapidly to reinfection at these surfaces. My laboratory is interested in the influence of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-12 and IL-33, on the programming of Trm cells. In the absence of these cytokine signals, T cells enter the tissue but do not persist and form Trm cells. These studies highlight the role of inflammation in regulating the abundance of Trm cells, and manipulating these pathways could be used to improve the efficacy of vaccination strategies that require high numbers of Trm cells.