The research in my lab focuses on evolutionarily conserved mechanisms for the establishment and maintenance of these beneficial host-associated bacterial communities. My main focus is on the innate immune system, as the host mediator of beneficial symbiotic associations. Shared by all eukaryotes, the innate immune system plays a role in self vs. non-self recognition and has been implicated in the regulation of endogenous bacterial communities, although these mechanisms are not well understood. My research aims are to identify microbial factors and innate immune mechanisms that both promote host-microbe specificity during colonization and the establishment of symbiosis, and underlay continued specificity over the duration of the association.
