Abstract: Innate lymphoid cells are a family of cells that play a role early in the immune response.  These cells guide the immune response by producing soluble factors that direct the response down different pathways that are optimally suited for a particular pathogenic challenge. There is a growing appreciation that particular ILC subsets also have mechanisms that block or curb the immune response, thereby giving these cells a negative regulatory role.  My talk will focus upon our unexpected findings for the importance of these cells in impacting disease outcome.

About the speaker: Dr. Ohashi received her Ph.D from the University of Toronto with Dr. Tak Mak, and did her post-doctoral training at the University of Zurich with the Nobel Laureate Dr. Zinkernagel, and Dr. Hans Hengartner.  She is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Tumor Immunotherapy Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and a Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto.  Her interests include understanding CD8+ T cell biology and mechanisms that regulate anti-tumor immunity.