Luke Heil, MD

Our lab studies neonatal host response to Influenza infection. We are interested in why neonatal mice mount weaker immune responses to flu infection and why they have poor immunological memory to flu. I am looking at Regulatory T cells (Tregs) to see what role they fill in neonatal immunity to flu. Tregs are important for shutting down the immune system and preventing autoimmunity, but we have data suggesting that they are paradoxically required for defense against flu infection in neonates. I am working on characterizing Treg function in neonates in an attempt to understand this phenomenon.