Sarita Patil

My laboratory seeks to understand the role and development of allergen-specific antibodies in human health and disease. Using human peripheral blood samples, our translational lab has developed several unique approaches to understanding the molecular determinants underlying both pathogenic and protective mechanisms in food allergy and tolerance. We pioneered the use of fluorescent allergen multimers to identify allergen-specific B cells, leading to the identification of protective, neutralizing antibodies important in tolerance induced during peanut immunotherapy. Combined with deep sequencing approaches, our work also led to the identification of public antibodies to allergens. We used highly homologous, or convergent, antibodies to probe why healthy humans so frequently develop allergen-specific IgG. Our work identified germline antibody-encoded recognition of peanut allergens, which has helped us understand how antibody genes intrinsically predispose us to develop high affinity antibodies to peanut allergens through multiple redundant pathways. Our work spans multiple disciplines including clinical immunology, antibody biology, and structural biology.