Cytokine/Chemokine Biology

Immunology Training Program is interested in identifying links between molecular mechanisms of cytokine production and inflammatory disease, with emphasis on type 2 diabetes as a more recently recognized inflammatory disorder. Cells of both the innate and adaptive immune system categories hyper-produce pro-inflammatory cytokines in diabetes patients. In some cases, the immune cells also hypo-produce anti-inflammatory cytokines, which likely exacerbates the physiological impact of elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. Identifying cellular and molecular mechanisms that explain cytokine imbalance in type 2 diabetes increases the scope of immunological research into the traditional realm of metabolic research. The long-term goal of this approach is to identify immunological targets to expand the limited arsenal of type 2 diabetes treatments currently used in the clinic.

Faculty involved in this research are: