Nolan Lab: Pioneering Single-Cell Analysis & Spatial Biology

We focus on signaling in the immune system and study of oncogenic process. We use multiparametric single-cell analysis to study hematopoiesis, cancer and leukemia, autoimmunity and inflammation. We also develop computational approaches for network and systems immunology. Our most recent efforts are focused on a single cell analysis advance using a mass spectrometry-flow cytometry hybrid device, the so-called “CyTOF”. The approach uses an advanced ion plasma source to determine the levels of tagged reagents bound to cells—enabling a vast increase in the number of parameters that can be measured per cell. Our laboratory has already begun a large-scale mapping of the hematopoietic hierarchy in healthy human bone marrow at an unprecedented level of detail. We are working to enable a deeper understanding not only of normal immune function, but also detailed substructures of leukemias and solid cancers as well as autoimmunity and pathogen effects upon the immune system.