Jennifer Lund, PhD

Dr. Jennifer Lund is an immunobiologist who studies regulatory T cells, or Tregs, as well as mucosal immunity to infections using both mouse models as well as human tissues. Tregs are specialized white blood cells that help to keep other immune system components from attacking a patient’s healthy tissues, as occurs in autoimmune diseases. However, Tregs also play a role in ramping up a robust immune response to help clear infectious agents or tumor cells from the body. This dual role underscores the importance of Tregs in managing the body’s powerful defenses, tuning the immune system’s response up or down as the situation warrants. Her research explores the role of Tregs in the immune responses to Herpes Simplex virus-2, West Nile virus, HIV and Zika virus infections. She also studies how the body combats infections at mucosal barriers, which separate the body from the external environment. Because the pathogens that cause the majority of infections of public health importance enter the body at these boundaries, better understanding the “first responder” immune events that occur there could help researchers design improved vaccines as well as other prevention and treatment strategies aimed at reducing the global burden of infectious diseases.