Research in the Maltzman lab focuses on memory T lymphocytes and their importance in solid organ transplantation. Memory T cells may be generated in response to infection or previous alloantigen exposure. Once generated, memory T cells persist for the lifetime of the host and provide protection from re-infection. Pre-existing memory cells are a significant barrier to successful tolerance induction and immunosuppressive strategies in solid organ transplantation. Therefore understanding fundamental aspects of memory T cell biology may lead to novel immunomodulatory therapeutics. The laboratory has developed a temporally mediated Cre-loxp deletion approach to alter signal transduction pathways in vivo in memory T cells to better understand their activation, generation and maintenance. Ongoing studies in the laboratory are designed to perturb the PI3 kinase/AKT, NF-kappaB, and RAS/MAP kinase pathways and the adaptor SLP-76 in memory T cells generated by transplantation as well as acute or chronic infection.