Research Overview

In 2021, Louis start his lab at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School to focus on fundamental molecular and cellular mechanism operative in immunological tolerance and the consequence of their breakdown in fostering human disease. His long-term career goal is to establish an independent research program in cellular and molecular immunology to elucidate mechanisms of human immune dysregulatory diseases and develop curative therapies. In the process, Louis have made several key contributions to the field of immune dysregulation, including the elucidation of fundamental immune regulatory pathways involving Notch receptor signaling in regulatory T (Treg) cells that can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. Other contributions he made include the identification of LRBA deficiency as a novel cause of Treg cell deficiency, and the development of disease monitoring tools for heritable disorders of immune dysregulation, including FOXP3, LRBA, CTLA4 and STAT1 gain of function mutations. Of particular interest is the identification of pathways promoting regulatory T cell destabilization and degeneration in the context of genetic and/or environmental-mediated immune tolerance breakdown.

Research Background

Louis-Marie Charbonnier studied cellular biology and physiology at Lyon University in France (2001-2003) and graduated from Montpellier University in molecular and cellular endocrinology (2004). He completed a PhD in immunology under the direction of Prof. Christian Jorgensen, during which time he worked on the development of therapeutic strategies using tolerogenic dendritic cells and regulatory T cells in a murine model of arthritis. His professional interest in immune dysregulation was further developed during post-doctoral studies under Prof. Alain Le Moine at the Institute for Medical Immunology, Free University of Brussels, in Belgium. During this post-doctoral position, Louis was able to publish in the field of Th17 and regulatory T cells and obtained rewards and grants for my studies during international congress and from Belgian national institutions. In 2012, he joined the lab of Pr. Talal Chatila at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School to focus on fundamental molecular and cellular mechanism operative in immunological tolerance and the consequence of their breakdown in fostering human disease. He became an Instructor at the Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School in 2016, with a long-term career goal of establishing an independent research program in cellular and molecular immunology to elucidate mechanisms of human immune dysregulatory diseases and develop curative therapies.

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