Not all immune cells can be categorized under one of the two branches of our immune system - innate or adaptive. One immune subset, Natural Killer T cells (NKT), has physical properties and functional characteristics of both branches. Deanna's research utilized the mouse model and recent advances in flow cytometry to investigate the specific role of NKT cells in the highly tailored adaptive immune response. Since her lab acquired a new FACS machine (flow cytometer) during the course of her project, she adapted her initial research idea to include a wider analysis of the impact of NKT cells on the immune response. Instead of evaluating solely the CD8 T cell count (a good indicator of the adaptive immune response), she used some specific and diverse antibody markers to investigate the effect of NKT cells on other immune subsets, including: macrophages and various subsets of dendritic cell.