Laboratory of Lymphocyte Dynamics is a research institute that studies the behavior and function of lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that plays an important role in the immune system. The laboratory is part of the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
The laboratory was founded in 2006 by Dr. Michal Schwartz, who is also its current director. Dr. Schwartz is a world-renowned immunologist and recipient of the prestigious EMBO Gold Medal. The laboratory’s research focuses on understanding how lymphocytes develop and function in health and disease.
One area of focus is to understand how the environment surrounding lymphocytes affects their development and function. For example, the lab has shown that chronic stress can have a negative impact on the ability of T cells (a type of lymphocyte) to fight infection. The lab is also interested in understanding how different types of lymphocytes interact with each other and how this interaction changes during health and disease states.
Another area of focus for the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Dynamics is to develop new ways to modulate lymphocyte activity using drugs or other agents. One example is their work on developing small molecule inhibitors that can selectively target specific pathways involved in T cell activation. These inhibitors could potentially be used to treat autoimmune diseases or cancer by dampening T cell activity without causing global immunosuppression.
The Laboratory of Lymphocyte Dynamics has made many important contributions to our understanding of immunity and its disorders. Their work has led to new insights into how chronic stress impacts immunity, as well as new therapeutic approaches for treating autoimmune diseases and cancer