University of Pennsylvania · BiologyHunter Immunology Lab
Christopher A Hunter · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Research Focus
Dr. Christopher Hunter's lab focuses on understanding immune responses to intestinal infections, particularly from the parasite Cryptosporidium, which poses serious health risks to children and individuals with immune deficiencies. The team explores the roles of immune molecules and pathways, such as CD40L and IL-22, in developing protective immunity, with the goal of guiding vaccine development and improving infection management. Through innovative techniques like parasite genetics and mouse models, they aim to harness the immune system to improve health against gastrointestinal diseases.
CryptosporidiumimmunityT cellsvaccine developmententeric infectionsCD40LIL-22mucosal immunitymolecular genetics
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the roles of CD4+ T cells in controlling Cryptosporidium infections.
AIM 02Explore the interaction between IFN- and IL-22 in promoting immunity to parasites.
AIM 03Develop new mouse models to study the immune response to Cryptosporidium.
AIM 04Identify the cellular mechanisms by which CD40L influences T cell responses in the gut.
AIM 05Assess the efficacy of novel vaccine candidates for protecting against Cryptosporidium infection.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsimmunological assaysflow cytometryPCRWestern blottinggenetic engineering of parasitesdata analysis in immunologyvaccine formulation techniques
Output against the department
Publications512top 8% of dept.79th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations40ktop 7% of dept.75th 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.