Congrats to Dr. Terri Laufer, recipient of the Michael Cancro Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Award! 🏆 An Emeritus Professor of Rheumatology, Dr. Laufer has shaped generations of immunologists through her research on autoimmunity, T cell development, and antigen presentation. A well-deserved honor.
The Colton Consortium for Autoimmunity has received a $15M, three-year investment from the Colton Foundation to advance autoimmune disease research across NYU Langone Health, Yale School of Medicine, and Tel Aviv University.
Read the full announcement: www.coltonconsortium.org/blog/colton-...
Dr. Ellebrecht presented "PIK3CD as a Niche Checkpoint of Human Skin T Cell Residence." The inventor of the CAAR T cell concept, and a @penncoltoncenter.bsky.social pilot awardee, his lab decodes how T cells commit to long- or short-lived fates to engineer precision cellular #immunotherapies.
Matis Award IFI Investigator Awardee Dr. Sunny Shin presented: "Innate Immune Defense Against Bacterial #Pathogens." Professor of #Microbiology, Burroughs-Wellcome Fund awardee, and dedicated mentor — studying how pathogens like Legionella and Salmonella evade host immunity. #InnateImmunity #I3H
IGG Saul Winegrad Awardee Ashwin Skelly presented:
"Induction of Broadly Neutralizing #HIV Antibodies by a Two-Step Mechanism Informs #Vaccine Design."
MD-PhD student (Immunology Graduate Group), Fulbright fellow, and first-author in Science & PNAS — with dissertation work from Dr. Hahn's lab.
Time for the I3H Year in Review! With ~230 faculty across @pennmedicine.bsky.social, @childrensphila.bsky.social + partner orgs, our community had an extraordinary year:
💰 $104M+ in #research funding
📄 100+ high-impact publications
🤝 10+ training grants
💡 $100M+ philanthropic support (since 2019)
Dr. Sara Cherry shared progress from the High-Throughput Center for Autoimmune Therapeutic Discovery (HIT-AI), a Colton Center of Excellence. Working with collaborators, Dr. Fajgenbaum and Dr. Miner, the center combines #AI with high-throughput screening to identify new #autoimmune therapies.
www.coltonconsortium.org
ft. B. Fensterheim, Z. Martinez, C. Diorio, K. Lingappan (@chopresearch.bsky.social), M. McKeague, D. Mathew, Shwetank, Ajinkya Pattekar, M. Lee, Z. Rangwala, S. Nasta, M. Kee, C. Clendenin, A. Greenplate & @ejohnwherry.bsky.social (@i3h-upenn.bsky.social) insight.jci.org/articles/vie...
Roberts Family-Katalin Karikó Fellowship Awardee Dr. Ted Kreider addressed: "Bespoke #mRNA Vaccine Designs for #HIV Prevention and Cure." Penn Measey Scholar + NIAID DP2 New #Innovators awardee, developing mRNA-based approaches to clear latent HIV with Dr. Drew Weissman's lab.
Honored to have Dr. Susan Kaech, EVP of Immunology at the
@alleninstitute.org, as our keynote speaker. Internationally recognized for uncovering how T cells form lasting memory — and how tumors exploit metabolism to disable them. Her work is driving new therapies for cancer and infectious disease.
