Asolina Braun leads the Skin Immunology Group in the at Monash University. She obtained a PhD in Infection Biology by establishing a novel intralymphatic injection technique to track how immune cells migrate from the periphery to the draining lymph nodes. The new approach uncovered that skin-derived T cells and DC enter the lymph node via diverse paths and that DC have differential polysialylation requirements for migration in skin vs LN. During postdoctoral studies, she developed an interest in skin-resident CD8+ memory T cells (TRM), contributing to the understanding of molecular pathways driving skin residency in T cells. Now, Dr. Braun’s group combines mass spectrometry-based antigen discovery approaches with TRM biology research to gain a better understanding of the antigen-specific mechanisms that shape tolerance, with a focus on skin immunity. Asolina has served the discipline as the Treasurer of the Australian and NZ Society for Immunology and is the incoming Treasurer of ASDR.
