Seminar: Oct. 20, Robert Tighe, MD, Duke University Medical Center

Please join us on Friday, October 20, at 12:00 pm in Field Auditorium, Environment Hall, to hear Dr. Robert Tighe speak about “Links between pulmonary macrophage function and environmental exposures.”

Dr. Tighe is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine within the Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care unit.

See abstract below for specific information regarding his talk on Friday.

The research focus of our laboratory is to identify susceptibility factors and candidate pathways, relevant to host biological responses to environmental pollutants. By carefully dissecting these links, his lab is gaining insight into how environmental pollutants acutely induce respiratory symptoms and exacerbate chronic lung diseases. This can lead to targeted therapeutics and/or identify susceptible populations. We focus on macrophages as central mediators of pulmonary responses to environmental pollutants. To do this, we have developed advanced techniques using flow cytometry to define macrophages and immune cells in the lung of rodents and humans. In the present talk, I will discuss the use of flow cytometry techniques to define immune populations in the lung and also discuss ways that air pollution modifies macrophage functions.