Research Interests: Vascular biology, Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, Diabetic complications.
Inflammation
Inflammation is a process whereby the body responds to harmful stimuli such as infection or tissue damage. It is an important part of the immune response. Acute inflammation starts rapidly and may last several days. It initiates the healing process. However long-term inflammation, where the symptoms continue for months or years, is associated with many chronic diseases. Our researchers are studying inflammation in the context of some of these chronic conditions such as Atherosclerosis, Diabetes and Inflammatory Bowel Disease
My research focuses on the development of novel therapies for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Our lab is currently assessing the impact of the endocannabinoid system on mucosal immunology. We have demonstrated a clear role for the endocannabinoid pathway in attenuating intestinal disease and are now working to understand a number of key components of that process.
Research interests: Resolution of Inflammation, In vitro/Ex vivo models of Atherosclerosis, Macrovascular Complications of Diabetes, Drug Discovery
Research Interests: platelets; Megakaryocytes; Proteomics; Mass spectrometry; Signalling networks; WNT; Cardiovascular Disease; Inflammation; Transcription factors.
Our research group currently focuses on the study of inflammatory bowel disease, a group of chronic disorders affecting millions worldwide. In these diseases, defects in the intestinal epithelial barrier combined with excessive immune cell recruitment and activation are known contributors to the chronic progression. The current therapeutic management of these conditions includes the use of broad antiinflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids and specific anti-TNF and anti-integrin antibodies. However, these drugs can have adverse events in prolonged use and a significant number of patients do not respond or develop resistance to therapy. Moreover, patients can progress toward complications that often require surgery such as intestinal fibrosis. In this context, my lab is interested in how stromal cells such as fibroblasts may contribute to coordinating immune responses and epithelial barrier maintenance. Using in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models, we investigate the factors that promote fibroblast differentiation to inflammatory entities and suppress their ability to sustain the epithelial barrier. Moreover, we focus on understanding how these inflammatory fibroblasts interact with monocytes, and analyse the outcome of these interactions in different healthy and inflammatory contexts. Our goal is the discovery of potential therapeutic targets to restore normal fibroblast behaviour and control inflammation and tissue damage.
Keywords:Inflammation, stroma, fibroblast-immune cell interaction, epithelial barriers, cytokine-mediated responses.