Craig Lefort, PhD Awarded 5 month Pilot Project

Craig Lefort, PhD, was awarded a 5 month pilot project with the CardioPulmonary Vascular Biology COBRE at the Ocean State Research Institute. Lefort is currently an Assistant Professor Surgery (Research) at Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital. His pilot project is entitled “Integrin Activation Regulates Neutrophil Trafficking within the Murine Lung.” The proposed work will provide a better understanding of how neutrophils, the first responders of the immune system, travel from the circulation into the airways of the lung during a respiratory infection This work will use a new lung infection model and expand his research interests into pulmonary inflammation, including neutrophil trafficking and integrin biology. This will serve as the basis for translational studies with the goal of blocking unwanted immune cell responses while preserving host defense.