Mucosal immune system
Mapping how diet, microbiota and the host immune system negotiate barrier function at the gut interface.
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Slack Laboratory · Est. 2010
Engineering
immunity
at the mucosal interface.
Mission
We study how microbes and their hosts interact at mucosal surfaces, and translate that knowledge into vaccines, food-as-therapy, and microbiota-aware diagnostics for human and veterinary disease.
Affiliation
Oxford
Dunn School of Pathology
ETH Zürich
D-HEST
Group
28
researchers
Spinout
Baxiva
vaccine biotech
01, Research themes
Three lines of inquiry,
one interface.
We build mechanistic, often quantitative pictures of how the immune system and the microbiota shape each other, and turn those pictures into interventions that work in the field, the clinic and the barn.
Next-generation vaccines
Engineering safe, effective and oral-ready vaccines for application in livestock rearing and AMR control.
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Microbiota metabolism
Mechanistic understanding of food-as-therapy for microbiota and immunity-related diseases.
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02, Mission
We want to understand how
diet, microbiota, metabolism and immunity
interact in health and disease, and use that to prevent and treat human and veterinary diseases.
Our current understanding of microbiota population dynamics in the gut is based largely on sequencing or selective culture. The lab develops new methods, from oral vaccines to quantitative live-imaging, that let us see and steer those dynamics in real time.
We work at the seam between molecular immunology, microbial ecology and translational engineering, and we publish, teach and spin out the results.
Founded
2010
ETH Zürich, then joint Oxford / ETH from 2024
Group size
28
Postdocs, PhDs, technicians, master students
Spinout
Baxiva
Glycoconjugate vaccines for AMR pathogens
Alumni
80+
In academia, industry and clinical practice
03, Recent publications
Read the work.
A small selection of recent papers from the group. The full list, with preprints and protocols, lives on the publications page.
2020
IgA and the intestinal microbiota: the importance of being specific
Oliver Pabst, Emma Slack ·
Vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 12–21 · Nature Publishing Group
Mucosal Immunology
2020
Reproducible Colonization of Germ-Free Mice With the Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota in Different Animal Facilities
C. Eberl, D. Ring, P. C. Münch, M. Beutler, M. Basic, E. C. Slack, M. Schwarzer, et al. ·
Vol. 10, p. 2999 · Frontiers Research Foundation, Lausanne
Frontiers in Microbiology
2020
Growing, evolving and sticking in a flowing environment: understanding IgA interactions with bacteria in the gut
D. Hoces, M. Arnoldini, M. Diard, C. Loverdo, E. Wetter Slack ·
Vol. 159, no. 1, pp. 52–62 · Wiley, Hoboken NJ
Immunology
04, In the news
News, spinouts,
and the people doing it.
Highlights from the press desk: new faculty, fresh science in major journals, and the spinout company Baxiva, building glycoconjugate vaccines for the world's most stubborn bacteria.
Faculty
BIIE welcomes Prof. Emma Slack as Barclay-Williams Professor
The Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering announces a joint appointment with the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford.
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Spinout
Baxiva, a Slack Lab biotech spinout
Developing next-generation glycoconjugate vaccines against E. coli and other antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
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Science
Boosting vaccines with harmless bacteria
A new study in Science shows how combining vaccines with friendly bacteria can boost efficacy and reduce reliance on antibiotics.
Read more →
05, Join us
We're looking for curious people
at every career stage.
Postdoc, PhD, masters, technical, if you're interested in mucosal immunology, microbial ecology, vaccine engineering or quantitative biology, we'd like to hear from you. We host visiting students from both ETH Zürich and the University of Oxford.
Postdoc
Mucosal immunology · Vaccine engineering
PhD
Microbial ecology · Live imaging
Masters
Rotation projects, Zürich + Oxford
Technical
Lab manager / specialist roles