“Effector-triggered immunity in the defense against invasive pathogens of the skin”

 About Speaker: Christopher LaRock, PhD is an Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology. His lab seeks to understand the fundamental principles governing host-microbe interactions. Their work has identified new virulence factor mechanisms, shown how manipulation of inflammation promotes colonization and transmission, developed novel anti-infectives, and discovered a new cell death program mediating effector-triggered immunity in the skin. These findings give insight into the basic biology of infection, the evolution of pathogenesis, in-born and pharmaceutical risk factors for infection, and better treatments for infections and non-infectious inflammatory diseases.