NIMML Seminar Series presents: Donald L. Kimpel

NIMML Seminar Series presents:

“The Immunologic Ecosystem and Autoimmune Diseases:

Balancing the Biome and Immunity”

Autoimmune diseases are, for the most part, idiopathic in origin. They occur in a susceptible host when the confluence of genetic predisposition, immunologic plasticity, and appropriate (or inappropriate) immune stimulation induce an inflammatory response against the host.

A subset of rheumatologic disorders—the spondyloarthropathies (SpA)—establish a clear association between joint inflammation and inflammation of the gut or skin. The SpA include psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) –associated arthritis. The immunologic basis for this linkage is not understood.

In recent years the groundwork for improving our understanding has been laid by developments in several areas:

· New subsets of immune cells, particularly T cells, have been identified which are responsible for inducing and for regulating inflammation.

· Dissection of the components of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) has helped move our understanding of the gut from being merely a nutrient-absorbing barrier, to appreciation as the largest lymphoid organ in the body, constituting 70% of our immune reactive cells.

· Appreciation for the complexity and multi-functionality of the gut biome allows new understanding of its immune regulatory role in maintaining health, or inducing disease.

Although popular culture has driven an interest in modifying our enteric biome by probiotics, prebiotics, and diet in general, we are only beginning to understand the possibilities for application of science to evaluating or treating disease via the biome. Autoimmune diseases are a particularly rich target for such studies.

About NIMML

The NIMML Institute is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit public charity foundation focused on a transdisciplinary, team-science approach to precision medicine at the interface of immunology, inflammation, and metabolism. The NIMML Institute team has led numerous large-scale transdisciplinary projects and is dedicated to solving important societal problems by combining the expertise of immunologists, computational biologists, toxicologists, modelers, translational researchers, and molecular biologists. The Institute is headquartered in Blacksburg, VA. For more information, please visit www.nimml.org or contact pio@nimml.org.