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Hematopoiesis occurs in a complex bone marrow microenvironment in which bone marrow stromal cells provide critical support to the process through direct cell...
The relative importance of respiratory viral infections vs inhalant allergy in asthma pathogenesis is the subject of ongoing debate.
The respiratory tract is an attractive target organ for novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications with nano-sized carriers, but their immune effects and...
This is a strategic “pilot” project in which we are seeking basic information on the immune cell content of gestational tissues.
This project investigates how different populations of cells within the respiratory tract immune system are altered during a viral infection.
Head, Pregnancy and Early Life Immunology
There are well-described sex-based differences in how the immune system operates. In particular, cisgender (cis) females have a more easily activated immune system; associated with an increased prevalence of autoimmune diseases and adverse events following vaccinations. Conversely, cis males have a higher threshold for immune activation, and are more prone to certain infectious diseases, such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Allergic sensitization and reduced ability to respond to viral infections may contribute to virus-induced wheeze and asthma development in young children. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are rare immune cells that produce type I interferons (IFN-I) and play a key role in orchestrating immune responses against viruses.
The high burden of peanut allergy underscores the need for treatment options that improve patient health-related quality of life (HRQL). However, the modifying effect of sex assigned at birth on treatment-related outcomes remains poorly understood. We sought to investigate whether sex modifies treatment effect on the change in overall and subdomain HRQL during the PPOIT-003 trial.
Peanut allergy is the most common childhood-onset, persistent food allergy. Peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a potential treatment, but few studies prospectively examine the outcome of peanut OIT in young children using parent-measured doses compared to standard care (peanut avoidance).