Monocyte repsonses in health and disease

Monocytes are immune cells capable of adopting different phenotypic traits and functions in response to environmental cues. Traditionally, they have been mainly viewed as being a precursor of macrophages and participating in the host response to pathogens. Recently, the understanding of monocytes has been expanded and studies have shown that they also possess direct protective and pathogenic activities to diverse inflammatory and homeostatic settings. Thus, monocytic responses are directly involved in many conditions ranging from infectious diseases to cancer development. By examining monocyte responses in several conditions and models, the group aims to provide a deeper understanding of how these cells contribute to inflammatory processes in different diseases and how their behaviour changes in response to various inflammatory stimuli. The group focuses on development of in vitro cell model systems to study the role of monocytes in infectious diseases, sepsis and cancer. Parts of the group's research are carried out in close collaboration with the focus area "Monocyte/Macrophage Responses" in the University's strategic profile X-HiDE.

Currently the group work according to three strategies

1. By development of monocyte experimental cell models, gain mechanistic understanding of monocyte behaviours. *
2. Investigate the relevance of mechanistic monocyte behaviours in clinical conditions or settings.
3. Formalizing current and in house generated knowledge of monocyte behaviour using iterative systems biology.

If you are interested in our research or want to collaborate, please do not hesitate to get in touch!