The gastrointestinal (GI) tract harbors a complex community of microbes (e.g. bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses) and various food antigens. Diet is one of the key environmental factors that shapes the gut microbiota. In healthy individuals no pathologic features occur, despite lamina propria infiltration with various immune cells and separation from luminal microorganisms and dietary antigens by only a single epithelial layer and mucus. Complex regulatory pathways must therefore maintain intestinal immune homeostasis in a healthy GI tract.
My group focus on childhood inflammatory and allergic diseases of the GI tract caused by a dysregulated interaction between diet, the microbiome and the mucosal immune system, like inflammatory bowel diseases or eosinophilic esophagitis.
