RESEARCH

In addition to development of computational methods, we apply our and other advanced computational techniques to biological and clinical data. In one recent study we analyze paired tissues of brain and lymph nodes coming from multiple sclerosis patients. Using a new sequencing technology and advanced computational tools, we showed that B cells populating the multiple sclerosis brain mature in the draining cervical lymph nodes. We showed that the traffic between the periphery and the brain is an on-going process in multiple sclerosis patients, and not a one-time event as was thought before. In another ongoing research, we study the immune response in celiac patients throughout the course of a year. Biopsies from the guts of these patients along with paired blood samples were collected, in order to study B cell dynamics in these patients. We discovered new characteristics of the different subpopulations in these patients, and now we study commonalities between the B cell populations of different patients and different time points of the same patient. This may help in characterizing the properties of the highly active B cells that drive the progression of celiac disease. Other ongoing immune repertoire studies in the lab focus on the immune response to HCV infection, Kidney transplant rejection, influenza vaccination, and the development of the healthy immune repertoire.