James J. Moon, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Areas of Expertise: Investigation

Academic Interests

The overall research goal of the Moon Laboratory is to understand how CD4+ T cell tolerance is maintained to antigens that should not be attacked by the immune system.  This includes not only self-antigens, but antigens derived from commensal microbes and environmental proteins that routinely make contact with mucosal surfaces.  Undesirable immune responses to these types of antigens are underlying causes of autoimmune, autoinflammatory, and allergic diseases, respectively. Our aim is to understand how steady state immune tolerance is established for CD4+ T cells with specificity for these antigens, particularly after thymic development. Our lab specializes in the use of state-of-the-art peptide:MHC multimer reagents in conjunction with the latest cellular, molecular, genetic, and systems-based approaches to directly identify and characterize antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in highly physiological in vivo experimental systems.  The achievement of our goals will provide a better understanding of the etiology and progression of hyperimmune diseases and lead to important new insights for therapeutic interventions.