Investigators and Program Directors

Research Interests

The broad objective of our research is to characterize basic immune mechanisms involved in host defense against intracellular bacteria. We study infections caused by the erhlichiae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The ehrlichiae are a group of tick-transmitted pathogens that cause a number of different diseases in both humans and animals, including monocytic and granulocytic ehrlichiosis. Although the ehrlichiae are usually sequestered inside of host cells, we have discovered that antibodies and B cells play critical roles in immunity, in some cases even the absence of T cells. These findings were unexpected, because antibodies are not generally considered to be effective during infection by intracellular bacteria. Our current work is focused on understanding how the ehrlichiae elicit early B and T cell responses and protective immunity. Other research in our laboratory is aimed at understanding effector functions of antigen-specific CD4 T cells during acute and chronic Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. These studies are part of an ongoing collaboration with researchers at the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, New York. Our goal is to understand fundamentals of the CD4 T cell response to well-defined antigens during TB infection. This work may eventually contribute to the prevention and treatment of this serious global infectious disease.

Contact Information

Phone: 518-473-2795
E-mail: winslow@wadsworth.org