Dr Nayak received his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Postdoctoral training in Pathology and Immunology from the Washington University School of Medicine. He is an experienced researcher in areas of autoimmunity, transplant immunology and immunogenetics. The focus of his current research is to understand the immunologic basis of graft failures following solid organ transplantation. Nayak laboratory studies the features of microenvironment in transplanted lungs as an attempt to characterize the early molecular and cellular cues that trigger anti-graft immune responses. By use of cell targeted gene therapy, the laboratory is currently developing a method to slow down the autoimmune progression and limit graft rejection following solid organ transplantation.