The Shin lab is interested in uncovering innate immune mechanisms used by the host to defend itself against bacterial pathogens and how bacterial pathogens evade host immunity to cause disease. They utilize the intracellular bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila, as their primary model. Legionella has evolved numerous mechanisms for modulating eukaryotic processes in order to survive and replicate within host cells. The ease with which Legionella can be genetically manipulated provides a powerful system for dissecting immune responses to bacteria that differ in defined virulence properties and for elucidating mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis. A major focus of their lab is to understand how the immune system distinguishes between virulent and avirulent bacteria and tailors appropriate antimicrobial responses.  They are currently pursuing how mouse and human inflammasomes differentially respond to bacterial infection.