Affiliated Labs
Commins Lab
The primary research goal of Dr. Commins鈥� lab is to discover the immunologic mechanisms which lead to alpha-gal red meat allergy, which is an allergic response to the carbohydrate galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose. Additional interests of the lab include studies of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and the role of environmental as well as food exposures in contributing to this EoE. Dr. Commins is working with colleagues to investigate whether there is an association between aluminum adjuvants in childhood vaccines and IgE responses to food.
Iweala Lab
Dr. Iweala鈥檚 lab, working in conjunction with the Commins lab, wants to strengthen our understanding of the basic mechanisms of pathogenesis of alpha-gal allergic syndrome. Additional interests of the Iweala lab include studying the epigenetic regulation of type 2 and regulatory immunity. They are exploring the role of the histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) demethylase UTX in mouse models of allergic sensitization and parasitic gastrointestinal helminth infection. They are also examining the role of this epigenetic factor in immune responses to parenteral vaccination.
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