After receiving my Ph.D. studying the structure and function of eukaryotic genes, I chose to focus my research career in the field of Immunology.  During my postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Malcolm Gefter at MIT, I made important contributions to our understanding of the genetic basis for development of antibody diversity during primary and antigen-driven B cell development.  My main research interest since that time has been to elucidate the molecular and cellular basis for immune memory and self tolerance in the B cell compartment.  My laboratory has extensive utilized mouse model systems and mouse reversed genetics approaches to address these questions for over 25 years.  In recent years, we have concentrated on the role of the germinal center in the antigen receptor diversification and selection events that culminate in the development of the memory B cell compartment.  To begin to translate the discoveries we have made in mouse model systems to a better understanding of the development of immune memory in humans, we are utilizing hematopoietically humanized mice as an experimental platform.