For International Day of Immunology, the UBC Department of Microbiology and Immunology interviewed three immunologists from different parts of the department to highlight their research.
JULIA LU, Abraham lab
What is your current research focus?
My current research is focused on identifying the transcriptional landscape regulated by interleukin-7 (IL-7) in type 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) and to determine whether it serves a significant role in mature ILC2 function (e.g. flu infection responses, airway allergic responses).
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of in your career/studies as an immunologist?
One accomplishment in the lab that I am proud of is figuring out how to deliver high doses of IL-7 to the fetal liver in vivo. I wanted to avoid invasive methods of delivery to prevent unwanted responses, so I used female transgenic IL-7 mice and it allowed for maternal-fetal transfer of IL-7, which was previously undocumented.
What do you love most about being a scientist?
As a scientist, I love being able to apply my creativity to solve research questions and try to satiate my curiosity. On a broader scale, I love that I am contributing to the knowledge of humankind.
ABISHEK WADHWA, Harder lab
What is your current research focus?
My research focuses on the development of an in vivo screening platform to study mRNA vaccines on a single cell resolution for cancer immunotherapy. The mRNA vaccines exploit the host immune cell translational machinery, known as the ribosomes in the cytosol subsequently eliciting specific immune responses. However, due to degradation and permeation challenges, mRNAs require a delivery carrier to transport them across the cell membrane to the ribosomes in the cytosol. I am optimizing and employing lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of mRNA to the cancer immune cell subsets in cancer mice models, and generating datasets with their transfection levels, biodistribution, cytotoxicity, and proteomic and transcriptomic profiles. Our approach not only allows us to test how effective and safe our candidate treatments are, but also provides us with information about where they go in the body, which tissues and cells they interact with, and how they do what they do, thus enabling us to design better treatments based on this new knowledge.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of in your career/studies as an immunologist?
I am more grateful than proud for the opportunities I have had so far to conduct high-level research with exceptional scientists that have led to my academic success during my young scientific career. Every peer-reviewed publication under my name, and every citation gives me great joy knowing that I have contributed to the advancement of the field. Securing the Four-Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF) and my nomination to the national stage of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship have certainly been the top two accomplishments during my PhD so far.
What do you love most about being a scientist?
Being a scientist allows me to test out new hypotheses in the lab and learn from each experiment. It also gives me the platform to talk about my research and inspire conversations with people around the world. I strive to feed my curiosity by utilizing the resources and my network toward establishing multidisciplinary collaborations. Since my project is inclined towards translational research, the thrill of new discoveries and the potential of benefiting human lives keeps me motivated.
DR. LISA OSBORNE, PI - Osborne lab
What is your current research focus?
Current research in the Osborne lab is centred on understanding how the immune system integrates the vast diversity of signals generated by the microbiome to maintain health. An adult human intestine is more than 20 feet long, and there are little communities of viruses, bacteria and other microbes that differ in both population density and composition throughout the length of the gut. We are interested in deciphering how these signals contribute to generating an optimal antiviral immune response that directs responding cells to the exact right location to deal with the infection, and how we can manipulate these communities to dampen inflammation associated with autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Whether we’re looking at protective immunity throughout the length of the gut, or pathological responses in other tissues, we’re really intrigued by the idea that location matters.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of in your career/studies as an immunologist?
This is a tough one to answer...I’m continually grateful to be in the position I am because I truly love studying the immune system. Over the last few years, the accomplishments of trainees in my lab have brought me the most joy and moments of pride. It’s great watching them develop into independent thinkers and researchers, and being rewarded for their efforts with scholarships, publications, and invitations to share their findings.
What do you love most about being a scientist?
I love knowing that as a scientist, curiosity will never get old. There’s always another question to ask and puzzle over. I love knowing that when an experiment is done well, even if the data suggests that your hypothesis was wrong, you’ve got an opportunity to learn something. And I love knowing that at UBC I’m in a community of learners who also love what they do, and that if we support each other in our passion, we can all have a great time.