Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

During inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) an immune cell type called eosinophils increase in abundance in the tissues lining the gut, yet the functional role of eosinophils during IBD is unknown. We do know that patients living with IBD are at higher risk of developing bacterial infections in their gut which poses the question: are eosinophils recruited to the gut during IBD to help fight infection or does the presence of eosinophils make things worse, making IBD patients more susceptible to bacterial infection? To date, our data suggests the latter may be true, with eosinophils changing the conditions of the gut to allow infectious bacteria like the common food borne pathogen, Salmonella, to better infect the gut. This study will use mouse models of Salmonella infection to uncover the exact mechanisms by which the presence of eosinophils in the intestinal tract impacts Salmonella colonization. With 0.8% of Canadians living with IBD and the number of new diagnoses rising most rapidly in children under the age of 6 years old it is imperative that we understand the immune cell types contributing to this disease. This project will inform treatment strategies and may uncover new therapeutic targets for the treatment of IBD.