Laura Hale
University of Arizona, AZ·Microbiology & Immunology
The thymus is the organ where T cells, key immune cells that fight infection and cancer, mature. Its output of new T cells declines with age, and this decline contributes to age-related weakening of the immune system.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
thymus
thymic aging
thymic output
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2028
What they work on
- Define, characterize and supply panels of human thymus and lymph node tissue from donors of defined age and sex, drawn from the DHVI Human Thymus Biobank (890+ donors aged 1 day to 78 years), to meet each research project's verification needs.
- Test whether therapeutic targets and pathways found in mouse models of thymic aging also apply to aging human thymus, lymph nodes and T cells, as proof-of-concept verification for the program's projects.
- Provide central histology, board-certified pathology review and flow cytometry, which sorts cells by surface markers, on human thymus tissue for the program's three projects.
- Monitor thymic output and gene expression in human and mouse thymus tissue, using sjTREC analysis and thymus gene expression profiling.
More about the research
A larger research program uses mouse models to find targets and pathways that might rejuvenate the aging thymus. A central question is whether findings in mice also hold in people. This grant funds the program's Human Target Verification and Thymic Function Core (Core C), which tests that question in human tissue.
Why it matters
Age-related decline of the thymus weakens immune defense against infection and cancer in older people. By testing whether mouse-derived targets also apply to aging human thymus, lymph nodes and T cells, this work helps the program decide which rejuvenation strategies are worth pursuing. Those strategies could eventually help reduce age-associated immune deficiencies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Joseph Turek
Duke University, NC·Microbiology & Immunology
Assess the safety and effectiveness of cultured thymus tissue implantation (CTTI) for inducing tolerance to a heart from the same donor in young miniature swine, including the conditioning needed and the fate of implanted thymus slices.
Ashish Sharma
Emory University, GA·Microbiology & Immunology
Identify features in large-scale omics datasets that are linked to HIV viral rebound and HIV DNA decline, using statistical and bioinformatics analysis of data from all program projects.
Kristin A. Hogquist
University of Minnesota, MN·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether interferon made in the thymus trains developing T cells to tolerate self-antigens that are switched on by interferon, as happens during inflammation.
The school
University of Arizona: 36 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 487 research doctorates a year.
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