Immune Systems

EXPLORE research in the MCRI Immune Development Lab, led by Professor Ed Stanley, focuses on understanding the development and mechanisms of the immune system, including why the immune system can malfunction, leading to attacks on healthy cells.

The Immune Development Lab investigates autoimmune diseases, focusing on type 1 diabetes (T1D), where the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. T1D treatment relies on insulin injections, and progress toward new therapies is hindered by a lack of human models. Using stem cells from T1D individuals, the group recreates key cell types involved in the disease's development. By combining these cells, they aim to understand immune dysfunction and identify interventions to prevent, arrest, or reverse the autoimmune process.

This research underpins our targeted projects investigating:

• Creating a new platform to generate antibodies in the lab
• Finding better ways to make insulin producing cells to treat diabetes
• Using stem-cell models of the lung to identify cellular therapies for Rhinovirus

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