Abstract:
Tissues are composed of diverse cellular niches that are essential for maintaining health yet vulnerable to disruption in disease. My research focuses on understanding how these niches are established, maintained, and reshaped under stress. In the context of celiac disease, I showed how chronic inflammation reconfigures the epithelial environment, altering cues that normally sustain a protective γδ T cell niche and ultimately leading to a permanent reshaping of the γδ T cell compartment. Then by mapping the cellular and spatial transcriptional landscape of the murine intestine I uncovered a unique region of the colon regulated by the microbiota where innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) act in the reverse direction, shaping epithelial cell states and driving spatial adaptations in the intestine. Together, these stories highlight how epithelial and immune cell interactions form dynamic, reciprocal networks of regulation. More broadly, they reveal that tissue cues are not only key to the organization of cellular niches but are also complex, intertwined, and central to the resilience—or breakdown—of tissue homeostasis in health and disease.

Bio:
I grew up in Virginia and have been fascinated with biology since an early age so I decided to study Biology in undergrad at the University of Virginia. I then earned my master’s degree in Biotechnology at Old Dominion University, where a course in immunology inspired me to pursue a PhD at the University of Chicago in Bana Jabri’s lab. There, I studied the role of γδ T cells in tissue immunity and celiac disease. Wanting to expand my skills in computational biology, I joined Ramnik Xavier’s lab at the Broad Institute, where I used single-cell and spatial technologies to study gut physiology and the regulation of cellular niches. Broadly, I’m interested in mucosal tissue immunity and how cellular niches are maintained in health and disrupted in disease. Outside of science, I enjoy long bike rides with my wife, playing pickup soccer, and exploring my creative side through music and playing the guitar.