Nitya Jain PhD

Dr. Jain received a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Medical School with specific training and expertise in cellular and molecular Immunology. She currently heads a research laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where her main goal is to understand how the immune system develops and operates in early-life and in identifying environmental and host factors that dictate malleability in neonatal immune responses. At birth, the immune system of newborns is faced with the monumental task of classifying the newly flourishing intestinal microbiota as benign, commensal or pathogen. The trillions of bacteria that collectively outnumber host cells by almost ten-fold are not simple bystanders, and the continuous cross talk between bacteria and host cells is crucial for several physiological and developmental processes. Dr. Jain’s research is focused on understanding whether and how maternal and microbial influences regulate the development of lymphocytes and their function.