My research team seeks to understand the mechanisms leading to tissue specific immunity. This is the concept that the innate and adaptive immune systems are tailored to the organ they reside in, in order to best support the immunological needs of each tissue. These include protection from pathogen invasion or autoimmunity but also for example supporting tissue regeneration after injury. However, we also postulate that this immune specialization and compartmentalization underlie the nature and site specificity of disease susceptibility, such as vulnerability to pathogens, allergies, autoimmunity, chronic inflammatory diseases and cancers, and that insight into how the immune system is wired in each niche will permit more fitted and potentially effective therapeutic strategies. While this idea applies to all organs, we study primarily the digestive system, that is the gut, liver-biliary system and pancreas. Our main project areas encompass:
1. Pinpointing the critical driving forces and target cells that make lymph nodes unique and matched to the organ they drain. Lymph nodes are placed throughout the body and, because each lymph node drains a restricted area, the anatomical sites in which tissue specific adaptive immunity is initiated. We recently discovered that the gut draining lymph nodes are not only compartmentalized but also distinct in their default immune tone, favoring tolerance in the upper small intestine but inflammation in the colon. Building on this finding, we investigate what cell types and external stimuli are responsible for these immune signatures. This includes considering both immune cells such as dendritic cells and non-immune cells such as the lymphatic vasculature and other stromal cells as subject to modulation by environmental queues like the gut microbiome or dietary components. A better understanding of what the immune properties of each lymph node in the body are and how they come about could be harnessed in the future to devise organ specific or more efficient immunomodulatory therapies.
2. Investigating the intestinal and hepatic influence on pancreatic innate and adaptive immunity. One “driving force” for a tissue’s immune landscape can be its connection to another organ. The gut is increasingly recognized as a source of immunomodulatory signals that can reach very distant tissues such as the heart or brain, however we investigate how the much more intimate connection between the pancreas, liver and gut shape pancreatic immunity: Due to the common developmental origin, the three organs share lymph nodes, ducts and vasculature. We therefore postulate that they not only communicate to coordinate digestion and nutrient uptake but also their immune systems. Our insights enable us to better understand -and potential prevent or reverse- the etiology of immunopathologies like type 1 diabetes, chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer.
Techniques used
We use a wide range of techniques in mice, including lymph node dissection, microsurgery, lymphatic vessel cannulation, pancreatic islet isolation, multimodal imaging, single cell gene expression analysis, gnotobiotics, and genetic manipulation of mice to model diseases or track immune events. We use a spectrum of gastrointestinal pathogens, and study human material to relate our work to human disease.
The Rockefeller University
- Postdoctoral Fellowship
2018
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Postdoctoral Fellowship
2013
ETH Zurich
Switzerland
- Postdoctoral Fellowship
2012
ETH Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland
PhD - metabolism, pancreatic islet biology
2010
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
MSci - Biochemistry
2006
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
BA - Natural Sciences
2005
T cell fate is dictated by different antigen-presenting cells in response to dietary versus gut epithelial self-antigen.
T cell fate is dictated by different antigen-presenting cells in response to dietary versus gut epithelial self-antigen. Immunity. 2026 Aug 26.
PMID: 42648284
Tissue-specific tolerance mechanisms and lymph node co-drainage shape T cell immunity in the upper digestive system and pancreatic cancer progression.
Tissue-specific tolerance mechanisms and lymph node co-drainage shape T cell immunity in the upper digestive system and pancreatic cancer progression. Cell Rep. 2026 May 26; 45(5):117324.
PMID: 42090287
Dendritic Cells in the Gastrointestinal System: Division of Labor, Plasticity, and Niche-Specific Adaptation.
Dendritic Cells in the Gastrointestinal System: Division of Labor, Plasticity, and Niche-Specific Adaptation. Immunol Rev. 2026 Jan; 337(1):e70090.
PMID: 41446959
Medullary stromal cells define small intestinal lymph node identity in humans and mice.
Medullary stromal cells define small intestinal lymph node identity in humans and mice. Cell Rep. 2025 Oct 28; 44(10):116441.
PMID: 41105512
Intestinal lymphatic vasculature is functionally adapted to different drainage regions and is altered by helminth infection.
Intestinal lymphatic vasculature is functionally adapted to different drainage regions and is altered by helminth infection. J Exp Med. 2025 Sep 01; 222(9).
PMID: 40505102
Inducible, but not constitutive, pancreatic REG/Reg isoforms are regulated by intestinal microbiota and pancreatic diseases.
Inducible, but not constitutive, pancreatic REG/Reg isoforms are regulated by intestinal microbiota and pancreatic diseases. Mucosal Immunol. 2025 Aug; 18(4):918-936.
PMID: 40398680
Identification of antigen-presenting cell-T cell interactions driving immune responses to food.
Identification of antigen-presenting cell-T cell interactions driving immune responses to food. Science. 2025 Mar 14; 387(6739):eado5088.
PMID: 39700315
Protists protecting food tolerance.
Protists protecting food tolerance. Trends Immunol. 2023 10; 44(10):745-747.
PMID: 37591713
Lymph node sharing between pancreas, gut, and liver leads to immune crosstalk and regulation of pancreatic autoimmunity.
Lymph node sharing between pancreas, gut, and liver leads to immune crosstalk and regulation of pancreatic autoimmunity. Immunity. 2023 09 12; 56(9):2070-2085.e11.
PMID: 37557168
RO6807936 as a novel positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer for in vitro and in vivo visualization and quantification of beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme (BACE1) in the rodent and baboon brain.
RO6807936 as a novel positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer for in vitro and in vivo visualization and quantification of beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme (BACE1) in the rodent and baboon brain. J Labelled Comp Radiopharm. 2023 07; 66(9):222-236.
PMID: 37095603
Pew Scholar
2020 - 2024
Searle Scholar
2020 - 2023
PANCAN Young Investigator Award
2020 - 2022
CRF Young Investigator
2020 - 2021
Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship
Swiss National Science Foundation
2014 - 2016
Helmsley Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Rockefeller University
2013 - 2014
Early Mobility Postdoctoral fellowship
Swiss National Science Foundation
2012 - 2013
Young Scientist Research Prize
Swiss Diabetes Foundation
2012
ETH Medal for PhD Thesis
ETH Zurich
2012
Gonville and Caius College Scholarship
University of Cambridge
2002 - 2006
Cambridge European Trust Scholarship
University of Cambridge
2002 - 2006