Harikesh Wong, Ph.D.

Research

My lab will investigate how groups of immune cells come to a “communal decision” about whether to tolerate or attack a particular target. Traditional studies have focused on how individual T cells respond when they recognize antigens—molecules that can trigger an immune response. However, decisions at the level of single cells are often noisy and error-prone, raising a fundamental question: How does the immune system reliably determine whether to mount a large-scale response? Our work has previously shown that this critical coordination begins in lymph nodes, where T cells interact within spatially organized communities and regulatory cells help dampen inappropriate responses. Now, using advanced techniques in tissue imaging, computational modeling, and immunobiology, we will determine how groups of interacting cells integrate signals and make communal decisions. In particular, we will test how the number and diversity of activated T cells within these local environments shape whether immune responses are amplified or restrained—and how these decisions vary across different lymph nodes in the body. This work could lead to new strategies for boosting immunity, clearing infections, and dampening autoimmune diseases.