Long Lab

Introduction

Autoimmunity is controlled in healthy individuals by cells that actively control immune responses to self so that the body is tolerant of it’s own tissues. The Long Lab focuses on understanding mechanisms of tolerance, why they are lost in autoimmunity, and how tolerance can be augmented with therapy.

Our approach combines in-depth characterization of T cells that confer tolerance, discovery of drivers of tolerance, and testing of how therapies modulate tolerance in trials. We use cutting-edge single cell assays to assess rare antigen-specific responses in clinical samples, with a focus on type 1 diabetes and related autoimmune diseases. These approaches are complemented by work in the Human Immunophenotyping Core.

Our goal is to better treat and prevent autoimmunity by augmenting T cell tolerance.

Alice Long
Associate Member

S. Alice Long, PhD

Principal Investigator, Long Lab
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Lab Members

Christine Bender

Christine Bender, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Long & Speake Lab; Center for Translational Immunology
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Joshua Centore

Joshua Centore, PhD

PostDoctoral Research Associate, Long Lab; Center for Translational Immunology
Sarah Kobernat

Sarah Kobernat, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Long Lab; Human Immunophenotyping Core; Center for Translational Immunology
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Alice Wiedeman

Alice Wiedeman, PhD

Manager, Human Immunophenotyping Core Lab; Center for Translational Immunology
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Past Lab Members

Long Lab

  • Valerie Wall –  Notch Therapeutics
  • Rebecca LaFond – Mason Univeristy
  • Duangchan Suwannasaen – Flow Contract Site
  • Katharine Schwedhelm – Fred Hutch

HIP Core

  • Lori Blanchfeild – Alpine Immune Sciences
  • Bryce Fuchs – University of Utah
  • Jerill Thorpe – Bristol Myers Squibb
  • Megan Maers – University of Washington
  • Nathan Alidina – AGC Biologics
  • Ian Frank – Sony Biotechnology

Research Projects

Long Research Project Preview - Drivers of CD8 T cells exhaustion in autoimmunity

Drivers of CD8 T cells exhaustion in autoimmunity

We are investigating what factors promote exhausted CD8 T cells, a cell type associated with better outcome in T1D.
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Long Research Project Preview - Impact of IL-2/IL-2R Signaling in T1D

Impact of IL-2/IL-2R signaling in T1D

We are investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying reduced IL-2R singaling in effector CD4 T cells of T1D subjects.
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Long Research Project Preview - Mechanisms of tolerance with autoimmune therapies

Mechanisms of tolerance with autoimmune therapies

We use longitudinal studies to determine immune changes that correlate with disease progression and response to therapy.
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News

News Science in Seattle

Science in Seattle: A first-in-human, open-label Phase 1b and a randomised, double-blind Phase 2a clinical trial in recent-onset type 1 diabetes with AG019 as monotherapy and in combination with teplizumab

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