Iris Thesmar

Iris is interested in adaptive immunology, especially tolerance and T cell development. Her research focuses on T regulatory cells plasticity, and the molecular mechanisms driving the ability of these cells to switch from an immunosuppressive phenotype to a proinflammatory one. In the gut microbiome especially, this plasticity is driven by the environment and the cytokines produced by the surrounding epithelial cells, T helper cells, and innate immune cells. This allows for the organism to develop a good tolerance for food antigens and the beneficial/neutral microbiome, but also to mount an efficient immune response when under duress from harmful pathogens.