Dr. John Harty was awarded a two-year R21 research grant entitled “Regulating Pathogen-induced Protective and Pathogenic CD8 T cells in the CNS” from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

There are billions of neurons in the brain, yet we know next to nothing about how brain neurons interface with the immune system in the CNS. Recent advances in neuroimmunology include the discovery of meningeal lymphatic, roles for immune cells in CNS homeostasis and characterization of tissue resident memory T cells (Trm) that persist in the brain after CNS infection. Importantly, T cells in the brain can provide protection or cause disease and their control by specific brain neurons is not understood. This two-year R21 award will use sophisticated manipulation of specific neuronal signaling pathways in conjunction with established models of brain T cell immunity and disease to determine if the interaction of these critical cell types can be manipulated to improve brain health. Chemogenetic technology, along with the capacity to evaluate CNS immunity and immune-mediated pathogenesis, will be utilized to test the central hypothesis that brain neuronal signaling pathways contribute to the generation, maintenance and function of CNS Trm and the outcome of T cell-mediated CNS diseases.