Mukta Deobagkar

I joined the Cornall lab within the MRC-HIU in 2013 to study B cell selection and signalling. Using genetic and molecular approaches, I study the roles of novel genes that govern B cell development, germinal centre-driven B-T cell interactions and the generation of immune memory. I am particularly interested in the molecular events involved in sensing signal quality and quantity and the downstream effects that govern immune cell fate. In the long term, better understanding of the regulation of genes that influence immune cell development and immunological memory will help to develop tools for managing and modulating immune responses in the future.

I did my PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India where I investigated the role of cell death and inflammation during immune responses. I established a Salmonella Typhimurium infection model and identified inflammatory and glucocorticoid-dependent mechanisms involved in lymphocyte death during thyme atrophy. I also identified phenotypic changes and signalling involved during infection induced thymic atrophy. 

During this period, I also established a bacterial septic shock model that was used to study the roles of Nos2 and Ifnγ during pathogen-mediated host inflammatory responses. This model was also used to develop an FTIR/Raman spectroscopy assay for identification of biomarkers during acute sepsis and during acetaminophen-induced liver injury. My previous work was supported by a 5 year Shyama Prasad Mukherjee fellowship from the CSIR-India.