About us
The Lund Lab is focused on the role of the lymphatic vasculature in the induction and regulation of immune responses within the skin. Initial studies suggest that the lymphatic vasculature is programmed to be immune suppressive, at least in some contexts, and this suppressive nature functions to facilitate peripheral tolerance. Induction of lymphatic vessel growth during cancer, however, may hijack this suppressive function, consequently driving immune evasion and resistance to therapy. Understanding the mechanisms through which lymphatic vessels influence the tissue-resident immune response and what environmental factors alter this response may aid in the development of new strategies to alleviate immunologically based dermatological conditions from psoriasis and vitiligo to cutaneous malignancies.
The Lund Lab conducts interdisciplinary research using a variety of tools to answer these fundamental and translational questions, including in vitro tissue engineered culture systems, spontaneous and inducible murine models of cutaneous malignancy, viral infection models and intravital imaging systems.
Graciously funded by:
- Department of Defense PRCRP
- Cancer Research Institute
- V Foundation for Cancer Research
- Melanoma Research Alliance
- Knight Cancer Institute
- American Cancer Society
