Autoimmune and Metabolic Diseases

Research Focus

Understanding the mechanisms involved in the maintenance of homeostatic immune responses as well as those that have gone awry in disease states poses a significant challenge, the rewards of which would help a variety of conditions ranging from diabetes and obesity to immunological responses to vaccines.
At the NIBN’s Autoimmune and Metabolic Diseases research group, work is being conducted to generate superior, soluble anti-inflammatory proteins to treat diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and asthma, and to uncover the role of chronic stress in autoimmune conditions. Other activities include the role of adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity and associated comorbidities as well as the relationship between type-2 diabetes, suppression of mitochondrial turnover, β-cell dysfunction, and apoptosis.