Gray Lab

Our immune system is constantly confronted with the decision of whether to launch an immune response or not. On one hand, these responses are essential for repelling pathogens or cancers. On the other hand, they can be detrimental when directed against our own tissues and cause autoimmune disease.

Our laboratory studies how the immune system makes these decisions. We are interested in how cell death is involved in immunological tolerance and responses to infection. By understanding the ‘choreography’ of immune cell death, we seek to design better treatments for immune disorders and cancer.

Our vision is to elucidate the mechanisms of immunological tolerance to improve human health.

Our mission is to make fundamental discoveries about immune function that create new diagnostics and treatments for disease.

The Gray Lab has made notable contributions to the understanding of how the thymus makes T cells, the molecular control of immunological tolerance and therapies that enlist the immune system to treat cancer.

We have pioneered:
New cytometric and imaging techniques to reveal how the thymic stroma controls T cell differentiation,
Mass cytometric (CyTOF) resolution of cell survival proteins in blood cancers to reveal mechanisms of therapeutic resistance,
Discoveries in the homeostatic control of FOXP3+ regulatory (Treg) T cells in infection and cancer.