Stay up to date with the latest news and updates from our FCEs!
The University of Colorado
The University of Colorado is proud to announce that their article “A partial human LCK defect causes a T cell immunodeficiency with intestinal inflammation” has been posted in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
This article is included in Volume 221 posted on November 14, 2023.
SYSIM
SYSIM in proud to announce the third edition of “The Promise of Interleukine-2 Therapy”, in Paris, France on September 4-7, 2024!
Please read below a letter from the organization committee:
Dear Colleague,
We are delighted to announce the upcoming 3rd “Promise of IL-2 Therapy for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, allergy, transplantation and cancer” Meeting. Building on the successes of our previous gatherings, this third edition will be held from September 4th to 7th, 2024, at the International Conference Center at Sorbonne University, located in the heart of Paris.
Our program, as in previous years, will offer a balanced approach ranging from basic immunology to clinical trial results in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, allergy, transplantation and cancer. This year, we will be running two sessions devoted to Treg cell-based therapies, with an emphasis on their relationship with IL-2.
Many key opinion leaders have confirmed their participation as speakers. The meeting is well attended, surpassing 300 participants from academia, industry, and business sectors including venture capitalists and consultants. This offers a unique perspective for fruitful interactions. Please click here to view the program from our 2022 meeting, which will give you an idea of what to expect.
We look forward to your participation in this important event.
Warm Regards,
The organizing committee: Abul Abbas, Christophe Benoist, Jeff Bluestone, Laurie Dempsey, David Klatzmann (chair), Thomas Malek, Shimon Sakaguchi, Qizhi Tang, George Tsokos, and Lucie Walker
Northwestern University
Center for Human Immunobiology inaugural retreat, at Northwestern University
This year, the Northwestern University immunology community gathered to present immunology-focused research projects at the first Center for Human Immunobiology (CHI) retreat. The event featured poster presentations from Northwestern faculty, trainees, and staff with a networking lunch. Stephanie Eisenbarth MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Human Immunobiology and Director of the FOCIS Center of Excellence at Northwestern University, welcomed attendees to the event and delivered an update on the state of the CHI. The retreat marked the Center’s first year, which has brought together immunologists from more than twenty departments and divisions. “It was exciting to see the incredible projects our trainees are doing – everything from cancer immunotherapy to basic signaling pathways that dictate lymphocyte function. I am looking forward to next year’s gathering,” said Dr. Eisenbarth.
Presenting at the CHI retreat, Dr. Emily Flowers, a postdoctoral fellow in the Eisenbarth-Williams lab and Northwestern Allergy and Immunology Research T32 recipient, said, “The CHI provides a unique environment within the Feinberg School of Medicine, bringing together exceptional pre-clinical and clinical researchers in immunology. Presenting at the first CHI retreat was a great opportunity to form new collaborations and was part of the earliest stages in building this immunology community.”
Dr. Slim Fourati, a new faculty member in the Department of Medicine, presented his bioinformatics research on innate immunity and antibody responses in individuals following vaccination. When asked about the implications of his research, Dr. Fourati stated, “our collaborative work is a step toward personalizing vaccines and identifying new targets for vaccine adjuvants.”
The retreat culminated in two poster presentation awards to Samantha Schroth, an MSTP student in Dr. Edward Thorp’s lab (co-Director of the FCE), whose research focuses on dendritic cells in transplantation tolerance, and Zachary Reinstein, an MSTP student in Dr. Jaehyuk Choi’s lab, with a research focus on gamma-delta T cells in the tumor microenvironment.
The CHI was also represented at the recent Autumn Immunology Conference, which is held annually in Chicago. Northwestern’s immunology community is growing (including faculty openings) and looking forward to building on this excitement in the year ahead. Learn more about the CHI by visiting our website.
Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy
The MIII-FCE had a study highlighted on the cover of the Journal of Infectious Diseases!
Research article led by MIII-FCE scientists published in the Journal of the Infectious Diseases, which is the scientific journal of the American Society of Infectious Diseases, was highlighted in the journal cover in the October 1st 2023 issue. The article, supported by PATH and funded among others, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, describes IgG responses against eleven SARS-CoV-2 proteins (structural and non-structural) that were assessed in inactivated virus-vaccinated individuals, inactivated virus-vaccinated breakthrough cases and COVID-19 convalescents. Vaccines that are based on complete inactivated viruses are very similar in composition to the infectious virus and therefore, the immune responses they elicit can be very similar to each other making it very difficult to distinguish both cases. This can become even more complex when the vaccinated person is exposed to the virus. This study analyzes potential SARS-CoV-2 antigenic biomarkers to differentiate each of these scenarios.