Rate My Professor Matthew Bettini

Bettini's research centers on mechanisms of central tolerance to self and extended-self antigens, including neonatal tolerance to organ-specific antigens and microbiota. Key areas include the role of antigen-presenting cells in thymic deletion of autoreactive T cells and regulatory T cell development, the impact of early microflora exposure on thymocyte development and its relation to Type 1 Diabetes, and optimization of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell signaling and function through manipulation of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs). Notable publications include "Thymic development of gut-microbiota-specific T cells" in Nature (2021, co-corresponding author), "A Critical Insulin TCR Contact Residue Selects High-Affinity and Pathogenic Insulin-Specific T Cells" in Diabetes (2020), "Function, Failure, and the Future Potential of Tregs in Type 1 Diabetes" in Diabetes (2021), and "Antibody-Mediated Targeting of a Hybrid-Insulin-Peptide Towards Neonatal Thymic Langerin+ Cells Enhances T Cell Central Tolerance and Delays Autoimmune Diabetes" in Diabetes (2022). He received the John Weis Award for Excellence in Experimental Pathology.