Research Areas

The Evans laboratory has found, both in vivo and in vitro, that lung epithelial cells are sufficient to kill a wide variety of respiratory pathogens. By stimulating the epithelium with combinations of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (primarily Toll-like receptor ligands), we induce intrapulmonary killing of pathogens, and demonstrate striking survival improvements despite challenges with Gram-positive, Gram-negative, viral, fungal, and even bioterror pathogens.