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Each year, FOCIS recognizes exceptional research with awards given during our annual meeting.
The awards and their 2024 recipients are listed below in alphabetical order. Congratulations on their achievements!
C. Garrison Fathman Fellows Fund (CGFFF) Award
Maaike Suuring, PhD student (she/her), Marie-curie consortium INsTRuCT. Human Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells Used in Clinic Regulate CD8+ T cell Population
Clinical Immunology Award
Zhiliang Bai, PhD, Yale University. Type-2 Functionality in Sustaining CAR T Cell Longevity Linked to 8-Year Leukemia Remission
FOCIS Research Awards
- Alberto Martin, University of Toronto. Skeletal muscle DUPD1 links gut inflammation with obesity-associated metabolic diseases.
- Alice Yi, Yale University. Unraveling TIM-3 as a Myeloid Immune Checkpoint in Autoinflammatory Diseases
- Alma-Martina Cepika, Stanford University School of Medicine. Epigenetic signature and key transcriptional regulators of human antigen-inducible regulatory T cells
- Ammar Alsheikh, Abbvie. Induction of Tolerogenic Dendritic Cell Phenotype through Natural Killer Cells
- Andrea Garcia Garijo, Vall Hebron Oncology Institute and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Peripheral Blood as a Source to Identify Candidate Neoantigens and Reactive TCRs
- Andri Leo Lemarquis, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The Role of Recirculating Regulatory T Cells in Thymic Regeneration
- Ane Altuna Mongelos, Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (FRCB-IDIBAPS). CAR T-Cell therapy Targeting CD84 Alone or in Combination with CD19 for the Treatment of B-Cell Malignancies
- Arnon Arazi, The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Inferring Disease Mechanisms in Lupus Nephritis: Lessons from the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) in SLE Consortium
- Atsushi Kadowaki, Osaka University. CLEC16A-driven mitophagy limits astrocyte proinflammatory activities
- Benjamin Hurrell, University of Southern California. Cellular Iron Is a Critical Regulator of ILC2 Metabolic Function and Development of Airway Hyperreactivity
- Berengere Salome, Genentech. NK-mediated Protection Against Tumor Recurrence in CMV+ Bladder Cancer Patients Upon BCG Treatment
- Bhavatarini Vangamudi, Exo Therapeutics. A Novel Inhibitor of cGAS-STING-TBK1 Pathway with Broad Application in Autoimmune and Fibrotic Diseases
- Brinda Emu, Yale University. HIV-associated Lung Cancer Exhibits an Immunoregulatory Tumor Microenvironment
- David Horwitz, General Nanotherapeutics, LLC. Tolerogenic IL-2 containing Nanoparticles Induce CD4 and CD8 Regulatory T cells and TGF-β Producing Regulatory NK Cells that Provide Essential Support for the Tregs which Suppress Immune-Mediated Disorders
- David Scott, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. A Bispecific CD8-dependent Immunoconjugate to Crosslink and Eliminate Antigen-specific B Cells
- Dimitrios Wagner, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Gene-edited allogeneic regulatory T cells as ‘off-the-shelf’ immunomodulatory therapy for transplantation
- Edward A. Vizcarra, Stanford University. High Dimensional, Single Cell Analysis of Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)-Specific T Cells from Pediatric Transplant Recipients with EBV DNAemia or Controlled Infection
- Etiena Basner Tschakarjan, University of Pennsylvania. Single-cell RNA-seq Analysis of PBMCs of Three Cameroonian Populations Reveals Differences in Cell Type Distribution as well as Differentially Expressed Genes
- Eynav Klechevsky, WashU. Regulation and dysregulation of Immune Responses by human skin dendritic cell subset
- Farshid Fathi, Columbia University. Donor-specific T cell activation and expansion following a pig-to-human decedent kidney transplant
- Fernando Yuen Chang, University College London. Altered intestinal barrier and immunoregulatory gut-derived metabolites contribute to acute rejection in renal transplantation
- Gerardo Suarez-Rojas, UNAM-INCMNSZ. Helios Regulates CD8 T Cell Activation in Response to TCR Affinity
- Hai Nguyen, Benaroya Research Institute. Single cell analysis of CD8 T-cells reveals autoantigen specific signatures of teplizumab treatment in at risk subjects from the Trialnet-10 study
- Hwi (Deborah) Gil, Vanderbilt Univ Medical Ctr (MCN). Human OTULIN mutations can cause distinct inflammatory disease phenotypes depending on the protein domain that is mutated
- Jianing Fu, Columbia University. The role of recipient γδ T cells in graft rejection after human intestinal transplantation
- John Ray, Benaroya Research Institute. Genome-Wide Autoimmune Genetic Variant Perturbations Connect Genetic Risk To Primary T Cell Expression And Function
- Kimberly Muczynski, University of Washington. Secondary Inhibitory Signals on Human Kidney Microvascular Endothelium Confer Peripheral T Cell Tolerance: Insight From Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicity
- Kristie Grebe, Anokion. Pharmacodynamic Demonstration of Immunological Tolerance Induced by KAN-101, a Novel Liver-Targeted Therapy for Celiac Disease
- Linqi Zhang, Tsinghua University. Repeated Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 Antigens Induces Exceptionally Broad and Potent Neutralizing Immunity to Major Sarbecoviruses in Humans Including SARS-CoV-1
- Maaike Suuring, CR2TI UMR1064. Human tolerogenic dendritic cells used in clinic regulate CD8+ T cell population
- Mahina Tabassum Mitul, University of California, Irvine. Tissue-specific sex differences in pediatric and adult immune cell composition and function
- Manuel Podestà, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Sequential phases of follicular helper T cell development and their impact on humoral immune responses to vaccination
- Marcelo Hill, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo. TMEM176B is a druggable intrinsic driver of protumoral Th17 lymphocytes.
- Marianna Parlato, Institut imagine. Local intestinal eosinophilic activation triggered by defective epithelial TGF-β signalling underlies IPO8 deficiency
- Marilia Cascalho, University of Michigan. Intra-clonal diversity of donor specific B cell IgH is associated with pathogenic allo-immunity
- Mario Vazquez, IDIBAPS. CAR-Ts are getting viral! A new method for allogenic CAR-T cell therapy development
- Martí Farrera-Sal, Experimental Immunotherapies Lab (Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies, Charite). Patient-derived Lung Cancer Organoids as 3D-testing Platform for Advanced Personalized Therapies
- Martin Thelin, University of California, San Francisco. STAT1 gain-of-function leads to dysfunctional T regulatory cells
- Martin Wasser, Translational Immunology Institute/SingHealth DukeNUS Academic Medical Centre. Unsupervised and supervised machine learning promotes translational research of autoimmune diseases.
- Matthew Arvedson, UCSF. Aire-Expressing Tumor-Associated Macrophages Promote Cancer Immune Evasion
- Matthieu Paiola, Columbia University. Exclusion of PD-1 from the Immune Synapse: A Novel Strategy to Modulate T Cell Function
- Miao Chen, Columbia University. Abnormal STAT3 signaling in fibroblasts promotes Staphylococcal growth and abnormal tissue response to infection
- Niklas Wiese, Berlin Center for Advanced Therapies. Regeneration of a Sustained Antiviral Response in Transplant Recipients by Tacrolimus Resistant antiviral T-cell Products
- Nora Lakes, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Precision Therapy for Lupus: Targeting Follicular Helper T Cells Using Chimeric Antigen Receptor Natural Killer Cells
- Olivia Rifai, Columbia University. Longitudinal analysis of immune cell changes in FUS-ALS patients treated with a FUS antisense oligonucleotide
- Raphael Porret, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV). T-Cell Receptor Precision Editing of Regulatory T-Cells for Celiac Disease
- Ricardo Grieshaber-Bouyer, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. BiTEing multi-drug resistant rheumatoid arthritis with CD19-T cell engagers
- Ritika Tewari, Benaroya Research Institute. Expanding our understanding of PDC-E2 T cell responses in PBC and their application for Eng Treg therapy
- Rosa Rubio, INCMNSZ. Helios Limits CD8 T Cell Antitumor Capacity
- Salvatore Albani, Translational Immunology Institute, SingHealth. PanTreg: a cell-therapy, system-biology – based approach for therapy of autoimmunity
- Sameena Nikhat, Mayo Clinic. Engineering stable and lymphodepletion-resistant T regulatory cells for inducing immune tolerance during transplantation
- Shirin Eyvazi Khasraghi, Mayo Clinic, Arizona, Scottsdale. Oral Pathobionts promote CRC development by alteration of the host epigenome and immunomic microenvironment.
- Silvia Gregori, San Raffaele Telethon institute for Gene Therapy. IL-10 producing tolerogenic dendritic cells modulate B cell responses in vitro and in vivo.
- Soo Jung Yang, Benaroya Research Institute. TCR avidity influences signaling and function of engineered Treg
- Stephen Parmley, AnaptysBio. Rosnilimab, a PD-1 Agonist Antibody that Binds to a Membrane Proximal Epitope Leading to Optimized PD-1 Agonistic Signaling
- Suyasha Roy, National Institutes of Health (NIH). Unraveling the mechanistic regulation of IL-2 signaling in T cells and Diseases
- Tianli Xiao, Yale University. Mechanistic investigation of human DPP9 deficiency
- Tslil Regev-Paska, Technion Faculty of Medicine. A Multi-Modal Longitudinal Model of Sepsis Reveals Immune Dynamics Associated with Mild, Severe and Fatal Disease
- Wenming Zhang, Stanford University. Immunophenotypic Profiling Reveals Novel T Cell Subset Associated with “Tolerance” in Pediatric Transplant Recipients
- Xiaoming Jia, Genentech. Greater Composite Confirmed Disability Progression in Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic or Latino Individuals With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: Analysis of Self-Reported Identity and Genetic Ancestry in the OPERA I and II Trials
- Ying Tang, Boston Children’s Hospital. SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Provides Boosted Mucosal Protection in Previously Infected Young Children
- Yumeng (Angela) Sun, University of California, Los Angeles. Single-cell transcriptomes reveal unique CD8 T cell atlas induced by Cytomegalovirus viremia in kidney transplant recipients
- Zachary Reinstein, Northwestern University. Pre-existing Skin-resident CD8 and γδ T cell Circuits Mediate Immune Response in Merkel Cell Carcinoma and Predict Immunotherapy Efficacy
- Zhiliang Bai, Yale University. Type-2 Functionality in Sustaining CAR T Cell Longevity Linked to 8-Year Leukemia Remission
- Zhiliang Bai, Yale University. Spatially Exploring RNA Biology in Archival Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissues
FCE Awards
- Ahmed Elfiky, UMC Utrecht. Antigen-Specific Interactions Between Endothelial Cells of the Blood-Brain Barrier and Naive CD8 T Cells
- Aisha Callebaut, Benaroya Research Institute. Non-Enzymatic Asn Deamidation of GAD65 Generates HLA-DRB1*03:01- Restricted Neoepitopes in Type 1 Diabetes
- Alyssa Indart, University of California, San Francisco. Enhancing regulatory T cell therapy with orthogonal IL2-IL2R systems to restore immune tolerance in type 1 diabetes
- Amber Wolabaugh, Columbia University. Human Immune Cells Promote SARS-CoV-2 Dissemination and T Cells Promote Lung Pathology
- Anabela Cutine, Oxford University Hospital. Probiotic Delivery of Galectin-1: A New Therapeutic Strategy for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
- Diana Lee, The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Vagus nerve stimulation alters circulating Ly6clow monocyte populations
- Eloise Dufourd, Infinity. Antigen-Specific Interactions Between Endothelial Cells of the Blood-Brain Barrier and Naive CD8 T Cells
- Esen Sefik, Yale University. Modeling COVID-19 in a Humanized Mouse with Functional Human Neutrophils
- Fernando Yuen Chang, University College London. Altered intestinal barrier and immunoregulatory gut-derived metabolites contribute to acute rejection in renal transplantation
- Gerardo Suarez-Rojas, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán. Helios Regulates CD8 T Cell Activation in Response to TCR Affinity
- Hadeil Morsi, Oxford University Hospital. Necrotising fasciitis as a presentation of NFKB1 haploinsufficiency-related CVID: A case report and review of the literature
- Jitka Smetanova, Charles University, Motol University Hospital. The Effect of Biologic Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs on Vaccination
- Kaitlin McKernan, Vanderbilt University. Male Pups Have Increased Allergen and RSV-Induced Airway Inflammation after in utero Allergen Exposure
- Karoliina Tuomela, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Lactic Acid Enhances Human Regulatory T Cell Phenotype and Function
- Luis Edwardo Chipres-Naranjo, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, UNAM. The CD43 Sialomucin promotes the expression of GLUT-1 on the membrane of T cells
- Maaike Suuring, Nantes University. Human tolerogenic dendritic cells used in clinic regulate CD8+ T cell population
- Mari Gornitzka, University of Oslo. Towards Complete Haplotype Resolution: A Novel Approach for Characterizing the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Locus
- Maria Noviani, Northwestern University. Susceptibility to Oral Anaphylaxis is a Heritable Trait In Mice
- Markus Zeisbrich, University of Freiburg, Germany. Single-cell analysis of monocyte subpopulations in untreated large vessel vasculitis
- Michail Orfanakis, CHUV, Lausanne. Deliniation of Secondary Lymphoid Organ Immune Landscaping with Multiplex Imaging Analysis (mIF)
- Zachary Reinstein, Northwestern University. Pre-existing Skin-resident CD8 and γδ T cell Circuits Mediate Immune Response in Merkel Cell Carcinoma and Predict Immunotherapy Efficacy
Posters of Merit
- Aaron Bodansky, UCSF. Unveiling the Autoreactome: Proteome-wide Immunological Fingerprints Reveal the Promise of Plasma Cell Depleting Therapy
- Alberto Martin, University of Toronto. Skeletal Muscle DUPD1 Links Gut Inflammation with Obesity-associated Metabolic Diseases
- Alma-Martina Cepika, Stanford University. Epigenetic Signature and Key Transcriptional Regulators of Human Antigen-inducible Regulatory T Cells
- Arnon Arazi, The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Inferring Disease Mechanisms in Lupus Nephritis: Lessons from the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) in SLE Consortium
- Ayelet Alpert, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. A Multi-Modal Longitudinal Model of Sepsis Reveals Immune Dynamics Associated with Mild, Severe and Fatal Disease
- Brinda Emu, Yale University. HIV-associated Lung Cancer Exhibits an Immunoregulatory Tumor Microenvironment
- David Horwitz, General Nanotherapeutics, LLC. Tolerogenic IL-2 Containing Nanoparticles Induce CD4 and CD8 Regulatory T Cells and TGF-β Producing Regulatory NK Cells That Provide Essential Support for the Tregs Which Suppress Immune-Mediated Disorders
- Dimitrios Wagner, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Gene-edited Allogeneic Regulatory T Cells as ‘Off-the-shelf’ Immunomodulatory Therapy for Transplantation
- Eddie James, Benaroya Research Institute. Single Cell Analysis of CD8 T-cells Reveals Autoantigen Specific Signatures of Teplizumab Treatment in at Risk Subjects from the Trialnet-10 Study
- Eynav Klechevsky, WashU. Regulation and Dysregulation of Immune Responses by Human Skin Dendritic Cell Subset
- Hwi Gil, Vanderbilt Univ Medical Ctr (MCN). Human OTULIN Mutations Can Cause Distinct Inflammatory Disease Phenotypes Depending on the Protein Domain That Is Mutated
- Iyinyeoluwa Okulate, Lipschultz Precision Immunology Institute; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. NK-mediated Protection Against Tumor Recurrence in CMV+ Bladder Cancer Patients Upon BCG Treatment
- John Ray, Benaroya Research Institute. Genome-Wide Autoimmune Genetic Variant Perturbations Connect Genetic Risk to Primary T Cell Expression and Function
- Kimberly Muczynski, University of Washington. Secondary Inhibitory Signals on Human Kidney Microvascular Endothelium Confer Peripheral T Cell Tolerance: Insight from Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicity
- Kristie Grebe, Anokion. Pharmacodynamic Demonstration of Immunological Tolerance Induced by KAN-101, a Novel Liver-Targeted Therapy for Celiac Disease
- Linqi Zhang, Tsinghua University. Repeated Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 Antigens Induces Exceptionally Broad and Potent Neutralizing Immunity to Major Sarbecoviruses in Humans Including SARS-CoV-1
- Maaike Suuring, CR2TI UMR1064. Human Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells Used in Clinic Regulate CD8+ T Cell Population
- Marcelo Hill, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo. TMEM176B Is a Druggable Intrinsic Driver of Protumoral Th17 Lymphocytes
- Margaret Regan, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. A Bispecific CD8-dependent Immunoconjugate to Crosslink and Eliminate Antigen-specific B Cells
- Mario Vazquez, IDIBAPS. CAR-Ts Are Getting Viral! a New Method for Allogenic CAR-T Cell Therapy Development
- Martin Thelin, University of California, San Francisco. STAT1 Gain-of-function Leads to Dysfunctional T Regulatory Cells
- Matthew Arvedson, UCSF. Aire-Expressing Tumor-Associated Macrophages Promote Cancer Immune Evasion
- Matthew Martin, Exo Therapeutics. A Novel Inhibitor of cGAS-STING-TBK1 Pathway with Broad Application in Autoimmune and Fibrotic Diseases
- Miao Chen, Columbia University. Abnormal STAT3 Signaling in Fibroblasts Promotes Staphylococcal Growth and Abnormal Tissue Response to Infection
- Alice Yi, Yale University. Unraveling TIM-3 as a Myeloid Immune Checkpoint in Autoinflammatory Diseases
- Nathan Suek, Columbia University. The Role of Recipient γδ T Cells in Graft Rejection After Human Intestinal Transplantation
- Olivia Rifai, Columbia University. Longitudinal Analysis of Immune Cell Changes in FUS-ALS Patients Treated with a FUS Antisense Oligonucleotide
- Ricardo Grieshaber-Bouyer, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. BiTEing Multi-drug Resistant Rheumatoid Arthritis with CD19-T Cell Engagers
- Rosa Rubio, INCMNSZ. Helios Limits CD8 T Cell Antitumor Capacity
- Salvatore Albani, Translational Immunology Institute, SingHealth. PanTreg: A Cell-therapy, System-biology – Based Approach for Therapy of Autoimmunity
- Sameena Nikhat, Mayo Clinic. Engineering stable and lymphodepletion-resistant T regulatory cells for inducing immune tolerance during transplantation
- Sheri Krams, Stanford University. Immunophenotypic Profiling Reveals Novel T Cell Subset Associated with “Tolerance” in Pediatric Transplant Recipients
- Silvia Gregori, San Raffaele Telethon institute for Gene Therapy. IL-10 Producing Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells Modulate B Cell Responses in Vitro and in Vivo
- Sue Sutch, AnaptysBio. Rosnilimab, a PD-1 Agonist Antibody That Binds to a Membrane Proximal Epitope Leading to Optimized PD-1 Agonistic Signaling
- Suyasha Roy, National Institutes of Health (NIH). Unraveling the Mechanistic Regulation of IL-2 Signaling in T Cells and Diseases
- Tianli Xiao, Yale University. Mechanistic Investigation of Human DPP9 Deficiency
- Wai-po Chong, Hong Kong Baptist University. Development of an Injectable Hydrogel-based Treg Immunotherapy for Uveitis: A Novel Approach Towards Disease Management
- Zachary Reinstein, Northwestern University. Pre-existing Skin-resident CD8 and γδ T Cell Circuits Mediate Immune Response in Merkel Cell Carcinoma and Predict Immunotherapy Efficacy
- Zhiliang Bai, Yale University. Spatially Exploring RNA Biology in Archival Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissues
- Zhiliang Bai, Yale University. Type-2 Functionality in Sustaining CAR T Cell Longevity Linked to 8-Year Leukemia Remission