Altman Lab

Introduction

Amongst other projects, our lab works within 3 groups, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):

The National Institutes of Health: the Inner-City Asthma Consortium (ICAC)
The Immunophenotyping Assessment in a COVID-19 Cohort (IMPACC)
The Immune Tolerance Network (ITN)
the Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers

In studies with these collaborators, we use network analysis techniques such as cell-deconvolution and modular analysis to reduce the dimensionality of complex data, while simultaneously focusing on the salient elements of the immune response (Chaussabel, Baldwin 2014; Obermoster et al 2013; Li et al 2014). Collaborations like these help understand complex diseases while laying the groundwork for the discovery of new treatment approaches.

Genome transcriptional profiling and genome sequencing technologies are powerful approaches to identify novel biomarkers and mechanisms of immune mediated diseases. These technologies generate huge amounts of biological information and require sophisticated computational tools to understand molecular pathways of the immune system in health and disease.

Much of the lab's work focuses on molecular profiling of human respiratory samples collected during flares of disease, such as asthma exacerbations, respiratory infections, and allergic reactions. Furthermore, the group's work seeks to both develop and understand personalized approaches to the use of immune based therapeutics in these diseases.