The Raffatellu Lab’s primary research focus is to understand the complex interplays between gut pathogens, mucosal immunity, and the gut microbiota, with the long-term goal of discovering novel and effective therapeutic targets for controlling infection. Our studies generally focus on the host response to gut mucosal pathogens such as Salmonella enterica, and we aim to decipher how the mucosal response to infection is orchestrated, including which components are beneficial to the host and which are evaded or exploited by pathogens to cause disease. Indeed, components of the immune response often constitute double-edged swords: on one edge, they are necessary to contain an infection to the mucosa; on the other edge, they can be leveraged by pathogens to outcompete the microbiota and to colonize the host. In order to unravel these complex interactions, we use a multidisciplinary research approach at the interface between microbiology and immunology, and we collaborate with many experts in related fields.