“The Infection, Inflammation and Immunity (I3) Research group in the LSI focuses on how micro-organisms cause infections and how the body’s immune system combats these infections to prevent disease.”
Mission Statement
“The immune system can cure of cause disease; our aim is to enhance the cure and prevent the cause.”
Both newly emerged pathogens (e.g. H5N1 pandemic flu, West Nile Virus) and pathogens making a comeback in immuno compromised persons (e.g. tuberclosis) represent major threat to human health. At the same time, disease caused by uncontrolled or inappropriate immune responses are now a leading health problem in the developed world. This includes chronic diseases such as type 1 diabetes (T1D), multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, and immune cell cancers. Many cancers also silence or subvert the immune system, suggesting that modulating the immune system could provide new cancer treatments. Together, these diseases are a major cause of deaths and cost the health care systems billions of dollars for patient care. Although the underlying causes of these diseases are diverse, they are linked by a common theme, inappropriate or insufficient immune function.
To improve human health and reduce the suffering caused by these diseases, the 70 trainees, technicians, and faculty members who comprise the I3 Research Group are dedicated to understanding:
- How the immune system functions to prevent disease.
- How immune deregulation can cause disease.
- How targeting pathogens and manipulating the immune system cold lead to new drugs and vaccines for curing or preventing infectious diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and cancer.
