Vanja Lazarevic, PhD

Senior Investigator
Experimental Immunology Branch

lazarevicInflammation evolved as an adaptive response to the loss of cellular and tissue homeostasis. While an acute inflammatory response is beneficial, perpetual inflammation that fails to resolve is a leading cause of systemic and organ-specific immune-mediated disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that aberrant activation or inactivation of transcription factors can lead to dysregulated expression of immune-related genes and development of chronic inflammation. Our group investigates how transcription factors and their downstream target genes drive the process of autoimmune inflammation with special focus on innate and adaptive lymphocytes. We utilize multi-omics approaches, confocal microscopy, lineage-tracing, reporter, and transcription factor deficient mice to map and functionally characterizing transcription factor networks that regulate differentiation of protective versus pathogenic CD4+ T cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs).

Suggested Penn mentors: Golnaz Vahedi, Will Bailis, Warren Pear, Jorge Henao Mejia, Jorge Alvarez