Research Interests Department of Microbiology Ph.D. (1995)
McMaster University, Canada
Research Interests
The Role of Toll-like Receptors in Host Innate Immune Defense. Research in my laboratory is focused on a recently identified family of cell surface molecules, called Toll-like receptors (TLRs). As an essential part of the innate immune system, TLRs provide the first line of defense for the host against invading pathogens. A variety of non-self, pathogen-associated molecular structures are potent agonists for specific TLR family members. The pathogen-mediated activation of TLRs leads to the cellular induction of inflammatory products and costimulatory molecules that act to alert and guide the actions of the acquired immune response. Specifically, research in my lab is directed toward: 1) Determining the molecular interactions at the cell membrane that enable TLRs to initiate cellular responses to specific pathogens and their products, 2) Defining intracellular signaling pathways and immune response genes that are activated by agonist induced TLR interactions, and 3) Identifying new pathogen-associated agonists for TLR family members. These studies are aimed at providing insight into the mechanism of non-self recognition by the host and defining the important functional role of TLRs in host innate immune defense.