Description of the research

Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases underlie a vast variety of human diseases. The immune system is often involved with these disorders. We focus on understanding the role of the relatively newly identified subsets of CD4+ T cells, Th17 and iTreg in regulating the inflammatory/autoimmune axis. We study Th17 and iTreg differentiation at multiple levels from mouse and human and integrate the results to build a comprehensive view of the processes.
We are particularly interested in study the regulation and interactions between the immune and hormonal responses and how the interactions contribute to pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases.
The results of our studies are expected to gain new insight into the molecular mechanisms of lymphocyte differentiation to Th17 and iTreg lineages. This in turn will be important for the development therapeutic strategies that will facilitate rational modulation of the immune response.

Funding

The group receive funding from Academy of Finland.