Sandra Nakandakari-Higa, Ph.D.

Research

I will investigate why memory T cells that live in the lungs become depleted soon after infection. Vaccines or infections trigger activation of immune cells that remember the foreign materials to which they’d been exposed and mount a rapid response when they encounter those molecules again. But unlike the memory cells that inhabit the intestine or skin, those that reside in the lung disappear within months. Now, using cutting-edge techniques in single-cell sequencing, cell and molecular biology, and genome editing—along with a system created to “tag” cells that come in close contact—I will identify the cells with which memory T cells interact in the lung, characterize the molecular signals these cellular partners exchange, determine how these signals influence memory cell survival, and assess how manipulation of these signals can produce an environment that supports memory cell persistence. My work could lead to vaccine strategies that elicit more durable immunity in the lung, a tissue that serves as the front line in the battle against respiratory viruses.