About the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center

The Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital conducts basic research in mucosal immunology topics ranging from Salmonella food poisoning to intestinal inflammatory diseases such as celiac disease.

The major mission of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center (MIBRC) at Massachusetts General Hospital is to characterize the role of the enterocyte (the cells of the intestinal lining) in mucosal barrier function at the interface between microbial luminal stimuli and lymphoid effector responses.

We focus on the enterocyte and its involvement in microbial “crosstalk,” lymphoid-nerve-epithelial interactions and inappropriate developmental responses.

We also look at how the enterocyte functions both as a barrier to microbial penetration and a site for the beneficial effects of probiotics in intestinal inflammation.

The MIBRC examines the strategies used by enteric pathogens (harmful bacteria in the intestines) and bacterial enterotoxins to affect the host and how these interactions combine to play a role in the pathogenesis of infectious intestinal diseases and intestinal inflammation.