The innate immune system is the first line of defense against microbial invasion and makes a critical contribution to many inflammatory conditions.
The Innate Immunity, Inflammation and Infectious Disease Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital (IIII@MGH) was established in 2008 as a collaborative effort and virtual program. The unifying focus of IIII investigators is to understand the basic molecular mechanisms that define the innate immune system and to elucidate how perturbations of innate immunity can result in disease. The mission of IIII is to facilitate collaborations between investigators at MGH, to share and distribute useful resources and to raise the profile of innate immunity, inflammation and infectious disease research on the MGH campus both nationally and internationally. Additionally, IIII hopes to act as a catalyst for collaboration with industry and to facilitate translational research.
IIII investigators are drawn from a variety of different departments and include a number of world-renowned investigators in areas such as infectious disease, inflammation and microbial pathogenesis. Disease focuses include gastrointestinal disease and mucosal immunity, inflammation and arthritis, atherosclerosis, ocular and neurodegenerative disease and infectious disease. Basic processes are studied using cutting-edge technologies in model organisms such as C. elegans, Drosophila melanogaster and mice, as well as in studies directly defining the innate immune system of certain patient groups. Thus, through multidisciplinary approaches, the IIII faculty is actively addressing many of the poorly understood and outstanding issues in innate immunity, inflammation and infectious diseases.
For further information please contact [contact info to come shortly]. We would like to thank Derwin Hyde for designing and maintaining this website.