The Centre for Blood Research Summer Seminar Series: Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILCs) as novel and potent regulators of inflammatory disease

From the lab of: Dr. Kelly McNagny, Professor
Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Blood Research, SBME

Presented by: Dr. Kelly McNagny and Ahmed Kabil

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a newly discovered branch of the immune system whose full functional relevance we are just beginning to appreciate. Due to their low frequency in normal healthy tissues and the difficulty in distinguishing them from more abundant immune cells, ILCs remained undetected until recently, but are now recognized as important, tissue- resident, cytokine-producing cells in a variety of organs. They are most abundant at epithelial barrier surfaces, where they participate in tissue homeostasis and inflammatory responses against invading pathogens. My lab is developing a number of tools to identify their origins during development and delineate the various subsets that reside adult tissues. Our goal is to understand their beneficial role in immunity, tissue repair and homeostasis and, conversely, their pathological role in chronic disease with an eye towards manipulating them for therapeutic interventions.

Hybrid: Life Sciences Centre Room 1003 (LSC3) & Zoom
In-person: Life Sciences Centre, Room 1003 (LSC3)*
* Lunch will be provided in LSC3
Virtual via Zoom: https://ubc.zoom.us/j/69021663938?pwd=SFc4MzViRXluMzZRY1JCaHBpQU1KZz09 | Password: 371605