Goals and Approach

We explore how the nervous system shapes immune cell fate in health and disease at the cellular and molecular level, uncovering new strategies to control infections, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.  

Using a multidisciplinary approach that integrates human and murine immunology, neuroscience, and systems biology, we map the molecular conversations between nerves and immune cells, with a particular focus on the regulation of T cell differentiation by the sympathetic nervous system. To dissect how neuronal signals influence immune cell differentiation and function in vivo, we leverage mouse models of acute and chronic viral infection (LCMV), and cancer (melanoma, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer) in combination with genetic perturbations, cytometry, scRNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and chemogenetic and optogenetic approaches. 

A central goal of our work is to translate these discoveries into new therapeutic strategies that target neuroimmune communication, leveraging clinically approved drugs to either boost anti-tumor and anti-viral immunity or to limit excessive immune activation in autoimmune disease. 

By uncovering the mechanisms that link the nervous and immune systems, we seek to redefine how immune regulation is understood.