Home Department: undeclared
Mentor: Catherine Blish (Medicine - Infectious Diseases)

“Investigating the Effects of Vaccine Adjuvants on NK Cell Function for the Improvement of Vaccination Strategies”

Natural killer cells (NKC) play a vital role in regulating vaccine response and antibody specificity. While classically recognized as innate lymphocytes that kill infected cells, high NKC activity is associated with poor antibody/vaccine responses. In vivo, NKC depletion in mice leads to higher antibody levels. However, the impact of vaccine adjuvants on NKC activity is not known. Using tonsil/spleen organoid vaccine response models with human cells, Elizabeth aims to evaluate different vaccine adjuvants on NKC activity. Outcome measures include NKC phenotype, organoid cell proportions, and antibody response. The lab hypothesizes that adjuvants that activate NKC will adversely impact vaccination response.