Understanding the mechanisms by which the assembling neonatal microbiome promotes neonatal immune development

The microbiome is known to affect immune development. For example, germ-free mice have fewer Peyer’s patches in the gut wall, suggesting that the gut microbiome regulates the formation of this lymphoid tissue. Other studies have shown that germ-free mice have fewer natural killer T cells. Both the microbiome and the immune system develop postnatally (predominantly if not exclusively), and there is considerable bi-directional crosstalk. In this project, we will study this relationship, with a focus on the seeding of innate lymphoid cells in mucosal tissues such as the gut and the lungs.