01
Tissue adaptation
How tissue environments shape immune-cell identity
We investigate how lymphocytes acquire and interpret information from the tissues they enter, and how local physiological states alter their development and function.
Adaptive Immunity in Tissues
How do tissues shape immune-cell fate and function?
Adaptive immune cells continually adjust to the tissues in which immune responses occur. We study how lymphocytes acquire, integrate, and interpret tissue-derived information to determine what they become and what they do.
Learn about our research
Our central question
Immune cells encounter tissues in dramatically different physiological states. What information do they extract from those environments, and how does it change what they become?
Research
Immune responses are shaped by where they occur.
Immune-cell fate is not determined by antigen recognition alone. We study how tissue context is sensed and translated into changes in lymphocyte identity, behavior, and long-term function.
Tissue context
Local physiology changes the information available to lymphocytes.
We study how lymphocytes experience and adapt to the distinct physiological conditions of lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, intestine, adipose tissue, and tumors—and how those environments alter cell identity and function.
02
Cell fate
How lymphocytes adopt distinct developmental and effector states
We study how environmental signals regulate lymphocyte development, differentiation, and effector function—from thymic development and germinal-center responses to memory formation, plasma-cell differentiation, and cytokine production in tumors.
03
Disease context
How lymphocyte states influence health and disease
We examine adaptive immune responses in cancer, metabolic inflammation, infection, and vaccination to understand when tissue adaptation becomes protective or pathogenic.
Cell fate
Mapping lymphocyte states
B-cell states
- Core naïve B cells
- Transitional B cells
- ISG+ naïve B cells
- Early memory B cells
- Core memory B cells
- Activated memory B cells
- CD95+ memory B cells
- CD27− effector B cells
- CD27+ effector B cells
- Type 2–polarized memory B cells
- Plasma cells
B-cell developmental progression
EarlyLate
We investigate how tissue-derived information influences B-cell differentiation into distinct memory, effector, and plasma-cell states.
T-cell states in the intestine
We map T-cell states in the intestine to study how gut physiology and colorectal tumors shape T-cell identity and effector function.
- γδ T cells
- Naïve γδ T cells
- MAIT cells
- Cycling T/NK cells
- T follicular helper cells
- Naïve T follicular helper cells
- Naïve/central-memory CD4 T cells
- Naïve/central-memory CD8 T cells
- Regulatory T cells
- IL-10+ regulatory T cells
- Tissue-resident memory CD4 T cells
- Tissue-resident memory CD8 T cells
- Th17-like tissue-resident memory T cells
- Tissue-resident/effector-memory CD8 T cells
Molecular mechanism
Testing candidate protein–ligand interactions
Structural modeling provides a focused way to nominate molecular interactions for biochemical and functional testing.
Approaches
Genetic mouse modelsAdvanced microscopyHigh-dimensional cytometrySingle-cell genomics
Publications
Selected publications
Research trajectory
Studies that shaped the laboratory's current work on lymphocyte state, tissue adaptation, and cell-fate decisions.
Continuous germinal center invasion contributes to the diversity of the immune response
Naïve B cells continually enter established germinal centers and broaden the immune response.
T-bet+ B cells accumulate in adipose tissue and exacerbate metabolic disorder during obesity
A tissue-adapted B-cell state drives inflammatory and metabolic dysfunction during obesity.
Neutrophils license iNKT cells to regulate self-reactive mouse B cell responses
An innate immune checkpoint restrains autoreactive B-cell responses during sterile inflammation.
Other contributions
Selected collaborative papers and reviews.
B lymphocyte protein factories produced by hematopoietic stem cell gene editing
Hematopoietic stem-cell gene editing programs B-lineage cells for sustained production of antibodies and other therapeutic proteins.
Emerging involvement of CXCL13 in cancer development and progression
A review of how the CXCL13–CXCR5 axis shapes immune organization, tumor biology, and clinical outcomes across cancer types.
Affinity maturation of antibody responses is mediated by differential plasma cell proliferation
Examines how differential plasma-cell proliferation contributes to antibody affinity maturation.
People
Our team
We pair original, rigorous science with individualized mentorship, transparent expectations, and active sponsorship so researchers from different backgrounds and career stages can do their best work.
Principal investigator
Thomas Hägglöf, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Thomas Hägglöf is an immunologist studying how lymphocytes acquire, interpret, and respond to information from tissue environments. His work spans lymphocyte activation, selection, differentiation, and intercellular communication, with a focus on mechanisms that shape protective and pathogenic immunity.
Current members
Linh Mai, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
- PhD, Virology & Immunology — Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
- MSc, Virology & Immunology — Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
- Biotechnology Engineering — Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry
Smrithi Jayashree Satheeshkumar
PhD Student
- MSc, Biochemistry — University of Kerala
- BSc, Biochemistry — University of Kerala
Tianyun Jiang, MPH
Research Technician
- MPH, Epidemiology; Applied Biostatistics Certificate — Columbia University
- BSc (Hons), Biochemistry & Pharmacology — University of Toronto
Andrea Amegashie
BEYOND ALBERT Scholar & Lab Volunteer
Sooik Son
Rotation Student
- MPH, Environmental Health Sciences — Columbia University
- BS, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Environmental Studies — Dickinson College
Research support & affiliations
Support for the laboratory
The laboratory's research is generously supported and strengthened by an interdisciplinary cancer research community.
News & updates
From the laboratory
Presentations, recognition, and developments from the lab.
Smrithi formally declares the Hägglöf Lab
At Einstein's 16th Annual Declaration Celebration, Smrithi Jayashree Satheeshkumar formally declared the Hägglöf Lab as the laboratory where she will conduct her PhD thesis research. We celebrated with her fellow PhD and MD/PhD students and members of the lab.
Dr. Linh Mai presents at the MECCC Annual Scientific Retreat
Linh presented the laboratory's work on lymphocyte responses in colorectal cancer at the MECCC Annual Scientific Retreat: From Discovery to Impact.
Sooik Son begins a laboratory rotation
Sooik joined the lab as a rotation student.
Andrea presents at the BEYOND ALBERT Symposium
Andrea Amegashie presented at the MECCC BEYOND ALBERT Symposium, sharing her work through both poster and oral presentations.
Smrithi Jayashree Satheeshkumar joins the laboratory
Smrithi Jayashree Satheeshkumar officially joined the lab as a PhD student.
Andrea Amegashie joins through BEYOND ALBERT
Andrea joined the lab as a BEYOND ALBERT Scholar and Lab Volunteer.
Dr. Linh Mai joins the laboratory
Linh joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow.
The Hägglöf Lab opens
The laboratory officially opened in January 2025.
Mentorship
Scientific independence is the goal.
We train scientists to identify important problems, design experiments that distinguish among explanations, interpret ambiguous data honestly, and communicate their reasoning clearly.
Technical skill is part of that training, but methods are tools. No instrument can substitute for understanding the problem or asking a decisive question.
Learn by doing
Trainees take ownership of real scientific questions early, with the degree of structure matched to their experience. We work closely at the bench and in experimental planning, then expand responsibility as judgment and confidence develop.
Reason before technology
We begin with the biological question, the competing explanations, and the result that would change our interpretation. We then choose the most informative experiment. New technologies are valuable when they resolve a real limitation—not simply because they are new.
Equity requires individualized support
People enter science with different access to research experience, professional networks, and informal guidance. Our standards are shared; the support used to reach them is individualized. Expectations are made explicit, and training and opportunities are adapted so each person can develop toward independence.
Feedback, credit, and sponsorship matter
Mentorship includes candid feedback, fair attribution, and active advocacy. We discuss responsibilities and authorship early, create opportunities to present and write, and help each trainee build the skills, relationships, and visibility needed for the next step.
What trainees can expect
Mentoring is a practice, not a statement.
Needs change as projects and careers develop. Mentoring plans are revisited rather than assumed, and feedback should move in both directions.
- Regular one-on-one meetings about the science, progress, and longer-term goals
- Project ownership appropriate to career stage, with explicit milestones and room to redirect
- Direct feedback on experimental design, data interpretation, writing, and presentation
- Transparent expectations for authorship, credit, collaboration, and responsibilities
- Active support for fellowships, conferences, collaborations, and career transitions
- A laboratory in which questions can be asked and mistakes examined without humiliation
Laboratory culture
Science is collaborative.
Lab members are expected to share knowledge, scrutinize ideas without attacking people, acknowledge one another's contributions, and help colleagues succeed. Disrespect, exclusion, and retaliation are incompatible with the way we work.
Mentoring in the Bronx
Based in the Bronx, the laboratory participates in BEYOND ALBERT, which provides local high-school students with sustained research experience at Montefiore Einstein. We aim to make serious scientific training accessible to students from the surrounding community and help them see a path into biomedical research. Across career stages, we evaluate mentoring by whether trainees gain independence, produce rigorous work, and move toward careers they choose.
Join the laboratory
We are building a collaborative team around difficult biological questions.
We welcome inquiries from prospective postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, research staff, and collaborators interested in lymphocyte biology, tissue physiology, cancer, and inflammation.
Email the labContact
Laboratory and office
Location
Forchheimer Building, Room 416Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461View on map