WEHI Wednesday Seminar hosted by Professor Ken Smith
 

Professor Laura Mackay FAHMS

Sir Gustav Nossal Professor of Immunology & Laboratory Head – Immunology division, WEHI

Immunity in context: how tissues instruct immune responses

Davis Auditorium

Join via SLIDO enter code #WEHIWednesday

Including Q&A session

Please note this presentation will not be recorded

Immune responses are often inferred from blood, yet many T cells reside long-term within tissues, where local context shapes their behaviour. Tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells are a non-migratory population that mediate immune surveillance primarily at tissue barrier sites and can contribute to both protection and pathology. While TRM cells share core features that distinguish them from circulating memory populations, they exhibit substantial heterogeneity both between and within organs. This heterogeneity reflects the capacity of tissues to shape the differentiation, maintenance, and functional capacity of TRM cells, with intrinsic features, including T cell receptor specificity and clonal history, intersecting with extrinsic cues such as cytokines and tissue-derived signals to direct divergent outcomes. These findings support a model in which T cell fate is not fixed at priming but is continuously shaped by the tissue environment, with implications for vaccination, cancer immunity, and tissue-specific disease.

All welcome!