We study how immune homeostasis is maintained in the digestive system, and how its failure can lead to diseases such as food allergies, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), autoimmune diseases and cancer. In particular the lab explores immunologically distinct niches within the digestive system, studies how they are created by dietary, commensal colonization and infection history in the course of a lifetime, and what the systemic impact of each niche may be. We are analyzing the impact on the innate and adaptive immune system at the physiological, cellular and molecular level.