The Lanzavecchia Lab - Immune Regulation
The aim of the Lanzavecchia Lab was to unravel the basis of host resistance to infectious diseases to create a new generation of passive antibody therapies and vaccines. The human monoclonal antibodies that we isolated from memory B cells and plasma cells can be used not only as drugs for prophylaxis and treatment of infectious diseases, but also as tools to identify vaccine candidates. Besides these translational studies, we addressed fundamental issues with regard to the cellular basis of immunological memory, the role of somatic mutations in the generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies and the relationship between infection and autoimmunity.