BRI Associate Investigator Adam Lacy-Hulbert, PhD, and his team of researchers, including Affiliate Investigator Lynda Stuart, MD, PhD, recently joined BRI. They bring new expertise in Inflamatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and the basic functioning of the immune system. Dr. Lacy-Hulbert was previously assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and director, Program of Developmental Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“The last five years in IBD research have been very exciting,” says Dr. Lacy-Hulbert. “We have a much better idea about the genetic pathways for IDB. We are now pushing our laboratory work into understanding the roadmap in human disease. BRI is very forward thinking and brings a wide-range of expertise to bear on this work. I’m thrilled to collaborate with these scientists.”

Dr. Lacy-Hulbert’s team is studying one of the first responders in the immune system response called dendritic cells. He and his colleagues have identified a gene that these cells use to educate the immune system in responding to intestinal bacteria. These studies will provide a better understanding of how the immune system works in IBD and may identify ways to manipulate this gene to reduce the harmful immune response in patients with IBD.