Washington University in St Louis · BiologyAtopic Dermatitis Immunology Lab
Steven Van Dyken · Saint Louis, Missouri
Research Focus
Dr. Steven Van Dyken's research lab focuses on understanding the immune responses involved in atopic dermatitis, a common skin condition characterized by allergic inflammation and intense itching. The lab investigates the role of interleukin-18 (IL-18) in activating specific immune cells called basophils and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), which produce key inflammatory cytokines. By using mouse models and advanced techniques like spatial transcriptomics, the lab aims to uncover how IL-18 influences skin inflammation and itch, with the ultimate goal of identifying new therapeutic approaches.
atopic dermatitisIL-18immune cellsbasophilsinnate lymphoid cellsskin inflammationitchcytokinestranscriptomicsmouse models
Research Aims
3AIM 01Test the contribution of IL-18 to skin ILC2 responses and AD-like disease.
AIM 02Determine whether IL-18 activates basophils to trigger acute itch flares.
AIM 03Examine the relationships between IL-18, ILC2s, and basophils in human AD.
Skills the Lab Values
mouse modelssingle-cell RNA sequencingspatial transcriptomicsimmunofluorescencecell separationdata visualizationbehavioral assayscytokine analysisconditional knockout techniquesin vivo experimentation
Output against the department
Publications76bottom 22% of dept.805th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations6.0kbottom 43% of dept.587th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.