Zachary Benet
e-mail address: benetzl@umich.edu

Mentor: Irina Grigorova, PhD

Research Description

Effective humoral responses require that antigen specific B and T cells find each other in a lymph node or spleen populated by millions of non-specific cells. Within this interaction, B cells get the appropriate signals from the T cells that enables to them to proliferate and form germinal centers. My research focuses on how activated B cells recruit antigen-specific T cells to the border of the B cell follicle. We are using two-photon microscopy to visualize these interactions in either whole lymph nodes or intravitally in live mice. Computational software is being developed to analyze the images on a cell per cell basis.

Publications

Woodhams KL, Benet ZL, Blonsky SE, Hackett KT, Dillard JP. 2012. Prevalence and Detailed Mapping of the Gonococcal Genetic Island in Neisseria meningitidis. Journal of Bacteriology, 194(9):2275.

Awards

NIH Intramural Research Training Award 2009-2011