A hallmark of the adaptive immune system is its ability to respond with greater vigor upon second exposure to antigen. This phenomenon, termed immunological memory, is the basis of vaccination. The most efficient vaccines that we know so far are live infectious agents that are cleared following acute infection.
The goal of experiments in the Kaja laboratory is to understand the mechanisms by which innate and adaptive immune systems interact together in response to infection and generate the most efficient protective immune memory. Lessons learned from such experimental models will be useful for rational and refined vaccine design. The projects in the lab are specifically focused on understanding how type-I interferons, a set of inante anti-viral cytokines that are induced in the first few hours after infection, influence the generation and maintenance of pathogen specific cytotoxic and helper T cell responses.
