T Cell Development and Function
My research has focused predominantly on T cell development and function and in understanding the regulatory mechanisms involved in controlling self-reactive T cells and T cell survival of activation induced cell death (AICD). In addition to the conventional positive selected T cells there are numerous other TCRaß+ T cells that do not conform to this common pool of T cells. These include NK T cells, CD25+ CD4+ regulatory T cells and the majority of the intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in naïve animals. These non-standard T cell groups differ from the common antigen reactive T cells with regard to selection conditions as well as activation conditions that lead to distinct activation processes.