Our Approach

"The Hill Lab uses clinical data to guide mechanistic immunology that improves the health of children."

Our lab is an inclusive community of researchers that uses clinical data to guide mechanistic studies of the immune system in disease models and patients. An important part of our mission is to create a healthy, diverse, supportive, and dynamic environment for people to work in, learn in, and ultimately reach their goals!

Our research broadly focuses on the two most common chronic diseases of childhood: allergy and obesity. Active areas of investigation include:

Development of novel clinical tools to aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of allergic disease

Our lab is actively developing new clinical tools to aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of allergic disease. A recent example of this work is the development of a novel functional T cell assay that accurately detects food-activated T cells in the circulation of children with food allergy.

Studies of non-conventional immune responses in allergic disease

We were among a team of investigators that recently described a novel interferon gene signature in children and adults with eosinophilic esophagitis. We are following up on this observation with mechanistic studies in animal models and translational studies in patient samples to determine the origins and effects of this non-conventional immune response.

Determining the mechanisms of obesity-associated immune dysregulation

We identified obesity-associated macrophages that regulate adipose tissue function and metabolic health. We are extending these observations to other obesity-associated inflammatory diseases such as obese asthma, a severe and difficult to treat asthma endotype.

See the Prospective Trainees for potential rotation projects, or drop us an email at HillLab@chop.edu to discuss collaboration opportunities.