The Mucida lab is working with the Lucas lab at Yale University to understand immunity to infectious agents and vaccines by combining the studies of mucosal immune responses in murine models of monkeypox infection (Mucida lab) with immune responses to monkeypox viruses and vaccines in human cohorts (Lucas lab). This project will provide an understanding of how viruses such as monkeypox, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 spread through mucosal tissue for pandemic preparedness and vaccine development.
At the surface of the intestinal lining, immune responses are carefully balanced: Invasive pathogens must be eliminated or excluded, while nutrients and trillions of commensal microbes must be tolerated. Mucida studies how the immune system associated with intestinal mucosae maintains this careful balance by generating efficient protective responses without jeopardizing its tolerance to innocuous foreign substances.
