Our team investigates how the location of immune cells within tissues governs their function, using advanced spatial transcriptomics and genetic perturbation strategies. Our recent work, published in Nature, revealed that tissue-resident memory CD8 T cells adopt distinct functions depending on their position within the intestinal architecture, highlighting how tissue niches imprint immune cell fate and behavior​​. Regional signaling, cytokine gradients, and cell–cell interactions shape whether T cells differentiate into effector-like or memory-like subsets, highlighting how tissue niches imprint immune cell fate and function. Building on these findings, we are now exploring strategies in mouse models to target these pathways. By analyzing transcription factors and molecular circuits that regulate spatial differentiation and positioning, we aim to identify approaches to enhance protective immunity or modulate pathological immune responses at specific tissue sites.

The developing mouse brain is a foundational experimental model for investigation of the origins of cell types in the mammalian brain. We are generating a comprehensive, spatially and temporally resolved, cellular-resolution atlas of the whole developing mouse brain, spanning the entire period of embryonic and postnatal brain development, using single-cell and spatial transcriptomic and multiomic technologies. This work will enable a deep understanding of the mechanisms of mammalian brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders. This project is supported by the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) with funding from NIH/NIMH.