His research interest is the development and function of the immune system in health and disease. His particular scientific focus concerns the immunobiology of the thymus, which is the body’s primary lymphoid organ for the development and selection of T lymphocytes, a type of cell critical to the functioning of the adaptive immune system response. In order to study the physiology of thymus development and to further characterize the pathologies that evolve as a consequence of damage to the thymus, Prof Holländer’s research laboratory has developed mouse models for studying thymus development and function.