Scientists & Research

The immune system lies at the heart of many critical areas of biomedicine, among them stem cell biology, gene therapy, resistance to tumors, vascular biology, antiviral immunity and autoimmune disease. Rockefeller laboratories apply the tools of modern molecular genetics and cell biology to the study of several critical aspects of the immune system, including antigen presentation, immunodeficiency syndromes and the DNA rearrangements that accompany the maturation of immune cell lineages.

Microbial pathogenesis requires an understanding of the molecular interplay between pathogenic microbes and cells of the human or animal host. Understanding this molecular interplay depends heavily on advances in the fundamental disciplines of immunology, biochemistry, genetics and cell biology. Other microbes, especially trypanosomes, provide valuable model systems for understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms of universal interest and importance.