Allergy, hypersensitivity and autoimmunity are serious health concerns in society. These conditions all occur as a consequence of an inappropriate reaction by the immune system, reactions that may occure against foreign or self molecules. By understanding disease mechanisms we are in a much better position to prevent and treat these conditions. Appropriate tools to diagnose disease and to predict disease course, the effect of treatment would greatly aid management of patients and consequently also benefit them.

At the Department of Immunotechnology we study basic mechanisms of allergy and develop and refine methodologies to diagnose and treat disease, predict disease outcome or outcome of exposure to potentially disease-causing compounds. These efforts have a potential to reduce the impact of allergy, hypersensitivity and autoimmunity both to individuals and to society.

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More specifically, our research focuses on the following aspects of allergy, hypersensitivity and autoimmunity:

• Dendritic cell subpopulations in immune regulation and hypersensitivity (PI: Professor Malin Lindstedt)
• Development of predictive in vitro test assays for sensitization (Pi: Professor Malin Lindstedt)
• IgE in allergic disease - a molecular approach to develop new solutions for treatment and diagnosis of allergy. (PI: Professor Mats Ohlin)

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