Demystifying immunity in the bladder

A European Union-funded project set out to study the bladder's immune system, with the aim of advancing our understanding of UTI and bladder cancer to improve treatment of these diseases. Dr. Molly Ingersoll, researcher at the Institut Pasteur, is leading the project.

We know that the bladder is a poorly understood organ, critical for storing metabolic waste. What we don’t know is how this unique environment impacts bladder immunity to common diseases such as urinary tract infections (UTI) and bladder cancer.

With UTI being second only to respiratory infection in prevalence, and bladder cancer being the fifth most common cancer in men, a deeper understanding of immunity in the bladder was needed “The EU-funding gave me the stability to build a team and focus on two of the main research priorities of the Institut Pasteur - antibiotic-resistant bacteria and cancer,” says Dr Molly Ingersoll, the Institut Pasteur-based researcher who led the EU-funded UPECBCG project (Cellular and molecular mechanisms of bladder immune responses to uropathogens and therapeutics). “I'm grateful to the EU for supporting my work.”

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