Mark Siracusa
Research Interests: Allergy and Asthma, Infectious Diseases, Inflammation, Cancer Immunology
Research Description: My long-term research goals are to better understand how immune responses are regulated at barrier surfaces. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how specialized innate immune cells direct the scope and intensity of Th2 cytokine-mediated inflammation. Utilizing models of parasitic infection and allergen challenge, my research has focused on interrogating the early cellular and molecular mechanisms initiated at barrier surfaces that regulate the progression of inflammation at mucosal sites. I am also interested in interrogating how epithelial cell-derived cytokines can influence hematopoiesis and promote the development of systemic inflammatory responses associated with the allergic march and the development of an environment permissive to tumor development.