Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Soon after birth our immune system interacts with its environment in order to be better prepare to face infections. Interestingly, chronic psychological stress occurring soon after birth can reshape how our brain development, and rewire the immune system differently in men and women; and that these modifications may last for life. Another important actor that influences our immune system is the composition of our microbiota. This research program is thus dedicated to understand the mechanisms that cause these differences, and how these modifications may increase the severity of infections differently in men and women. By using rat models, we will characterize how early life stress and lung microbiota impact immune development in females and males at multiple ages, including before, during and after puberty. We will also investigate the role of female and male sex hormones in how early life events modulate the immune system. Finally, we will determine whether the alterations of the immune system have functional consequences on viral infection severity and inflammatory response in females and males. Thus, by understanding these differences, we hope to define better approaches to efficiently reduce the severity of diseases caused by infections for everyone.