The Lukacs Lab research is presently focused on the innate and acquired immune responses in allergen- and respiratory virus-induced acute and chronic diseases, as well as the role that the gut microbiome has on development of allergic diseases. Studies in the laboratory investigate the function and activation of DC and T cells during infections and the differential epigenetic modulation of the immune and pathologic responses that lead to exacerbated disease progression. Translational collaborations include studies examining severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-induced disease with infants in the Pediatric ICU and development of food and airborne allergen responses in inner city birth cohorts linked to microbiome and metabolic changes with collaborators from Henry Ford Medical Center and UCSF. Collaborative studies have also been initiated in children with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) with U of Michigan cohorts from GI clinics integrated with models of food allergy driven disease in animal models of EoE.