Reparative processes are an important part of recovery after insults. These insults can be caused by mechanical damage, inflammation, and infection.

Appropriate repair is necessary to avoid development of chronic inflammatory or infectious diseases, and even cancer.

We study cell-intrinsic and cell-cell communication mechanisms by which reparative and immune responses collaboratively ensure tissue protection. We use both in vivo and in vitro (organoid co-cultures) models of disease (inflammation, infection, cancer). We use CEMIR’s impressive imaging infrastructure to develop automated image analysis tools for organoids and tissue sections. We combine these imaging techniques with next generation sequencing to measure changes in microbiome, gene expression, and chromatin state.

We mainly study mucosal sites, as they are one of the prime interfaces between ‘in’ and ‘out’, and thus common sites for inflammation or infection. For example, we study how factors (cytokines) that are derived from immune cells induce an effector response in the intestinal epithelium.

In addition, we are determining the role of different epigenetic modifiers, which alter the chromatin state of cells, in intestinal epithelial cell differentiation in general and in response to infection specifically. Finally, we are really interested in how non-immune cells, such as smooth muscle cells, contribute to tissue repair and immunity by secreting so-called ‘niche’ factors.