Inta Gribonika
Inta Gribonika is an Associate Senior Lecturer at Lund University, where she leads the Barrier Immunity research program. Her work focuses on antibody-mediated immune responses at barrier tissues such as the skin and gut, with an emphasis on host–microbiota interactions.
Her research has contributed to the discovery that the skin can support local humoral immune responses, including B cell activation and the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures that drive in situ antibody production under homeostatic conditions. These processes are studied using immunological and histological approaches to characterize tissue-resident immune cell organization and function.
During her doctoral and postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Nils Lycke and Yasmine Belkaid, she worked on mucosal and skin immunity using experimental models of barrier infection and immune regulation. Her current research aims to dissect mechanisms of cutaneous antibody responses and their potential exploitation for non-invasive vaccination strategies targeting barrier surfaces.
David Masopust
David Masopust is McKnight University Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on CD4 and CD8 T cell responses to viral and bacterial infections, with particular emphasis on the generation, migration, and long-term maintenance of memory T cells that provide protective immunity. A central aspect of his work is the study of tissue-resident memory T cells, especially in barrier tissues such as the intestinal mucosa, which are key sites of pathogen entry.
His laboratory uses approaches including MHC tetramer technology, adoptive transfer of T cells, flow cytometry, and transcriptional profiling to track antigen-specific T cell responses and define their developmental pathways. Through this work, he aims to understand how durable immune protection is established and how these insights can be leveraged to improve vaccination strategies against infectious diseases.
