Although it is well-recognized that our immune system matures and evolves from infancy to adulthood as posited by the hygiene hypothesis, the underlying phenotypic and functional differences between the pediatric and adult immune system, and how they can be shaped by pathogenic triggers and dietary factors, remain poorly understood. With the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s attention has once again shifted its focus to the children. Why are children at lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and if they were to be infected, why are they likely to be mild? But yet, other respiratory viruses can cause substantial morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. At the same time, there have been reports of a rare but severe and life-threatening multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) emerging in children 1-2 months post-COVID-19 infection. These questions remain open, and our poor understanding on the children’s immune responses during diseases has resulted in limited, non-specific, and inefficacious treatment options available for this group of vulnerable individuals. This leaves them at risk of suffering from permanent damage, long-term complications, decreased quality of life, and even death.

As such, the objective of our lab is to uncover the unknowns of immunoregulation and immunopathogenesis in children during health and diseases using preclinical mouse models. This could aid in the (1) the identification of novel and specific therapeutic targets in children, (2) identification of children who are at risk of developing severe complications associated with infectious diseases for early intervention, and (3) development of novel vaccine adjuvants capable of promoting a more robust and prolonged immunity in children to reduce the need for booster shots.