Tal has been awarded £1.5 million over 6 years to research how adaptive immune cells navigate between the various functional compartments of the spleen. To study these processes, Tal’s team has pioneered an advanced microscopy technique that allows this analysis inside live intact spleens.
The spleen is the largest immune organ in the body and the only one to filter the blood. It plays a critical role in protection against blood-pathogens, preventing lethal systemic infections. To function optimally, the spleen evolved specialised anatomy and mechanisms that coordinate access of immune cells to sites that regulate their survival and activation.
Speaking of the award Tal said: “I am delighted to receive this award to help us understand how the spleen orchestrates immune responses. These studies may ultimately lead to the development of new vaccine strategies and therapeutic approaches against a variety of immunological diseases.”