University of Utah · BiologyBettini Lab
Matthew Bettini · Salt Lake City, Utah
Research Focus
Dr. Matthew Bettini's lab studies how early life exposure to microbes influences immune system development, particularly focusing on T cells produced in the thymus. They also explore how enhancing Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies can improve cancer treatments by fine-tuning intracellular signaling pathways. Understanding these mechanisms could lead to better prevention of allergies and asthma, as well as more effective cancer immunotherapies.
T cell developmentmicrobiotaimmunotherapyCAR T cellsasthmaimmune regulationsignaling pathwaysthymus functiondendritic cellsITAM diversity
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how early life microbiota supports T cell development in the thymus.
AIM 02Identify molecular signals that regulate intestinal dendritic cell migration to the thymus.
AIM 03Determine the factors influencing the expansion of microbiota-specific T cells in the thymus.
AIM 04Optimize CAR T cell function by varying the ITAM sequences in signaling motifs.
AIM 05Assess the impact of different ITAM sequences on T cell persistence and response.
Skills the Lab Values
in vivo modelscell cultureflow cytometryCRISPRimmunofluorescenceWestern blottingmolecular signaling analysisT cell co-culture assaysmouse modelsdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications62bottom 16% of dept.865th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations3.1kbottom 23% of dept.795th 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.