Below is a list of notable happenings, awards and accolades that members of CFI have achieved this year.

2019 collage

 

news

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             2022                            2018
             2021                            2017
             2020                            2016
             2019                            2015

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Two faculty members from the University of Minnesota Medical School received the 2019 Distinguished Lectureship Award on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Dean’s Distinguished Research Lectureship (DDRL). David Masopust, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and in the Center for Immunology, and Melissa Geller, MD, MS, associate professor and division director for the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, were the two awardees recognized for their outstanding research.  Read more...

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The program project grant "Mechanisms of Peripheral Induction of T-cell Tolerance" is funded for another 5 years.  This grant has been sponsored by NIH for the last 21 years and continues to support great research in CFI. Read more...

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The work in the Masopust lab is currently studying the effect on primates the vaccine tests a part of the immune system that’s usually not targeted for the vaccine - the cell types that Masopust says are considered the body’s first responders- CD8+ T cells.  While testing on humans may not start for several more years the current test results are encouraging. For more information on this story see Fox9News or for more info on the current projects of the Masopust lab, click here.

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HBS

Dr. Borges da Silva awarded an NIH Pathway to Independence Award

Dr. Henrique Borges da Silva has been awarded the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, which provides an opportunity for promising postdoctoral scientists to receive both mentored and independent research support from the same award. 

CFI would like to congratulate Dr. Henrique Borges da Silva from the Jameson lab, he has been awarded the NIAID/NIH research grant, Independence Award to support his work. This fellowship aims to harness a strong cohort of new NIH-supported independent investigators. K99/R00 awardees receive support for independent projects and facilitate their transition to tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. Henrique will work on the project: "Defining the function of extracellular ATP sensing for memory CD8+ T cell generation and longevity", and will seek to better understand how the "danger signal" eATP controls the long-term establishment of CD8 T cell memory.  Dr. Borges da Silva will be opening his own lab in the summer of 2020 in the Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. His lab will focus on nucleotide signaling on T cells.

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MC

Former UMN researcher Max D. Cooper, M.D. wins the 2019 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award

On September 10, 2019, Drs. Max Cooper and Jacques Miller won the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award "for their discovery of the two distinct classes of lymphocytes, B and T cells - a monumental achievement that launched the course of modern immunology". The Lasker Awards are America’s most prestigious biomedical research awards, also labeled the American Nobels, and for the past 74 years have recognized the contributions of leaders who made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of human diseases. While at the University of Minnesota from 1963-1967, Dr. Cooper made the fundamental discovery with Drs. Robert Good and Raymond Peterson that there are two kinds of lymphocytes, B cells that make antibodies and T cells that mediate cellular immunity. Working with chickens, Dr. Cooper showed that an avian organ called the bursa of Fabricius is the site where B cells mature, and he then characterized the different stages of B cell development. Around the same time, Dr. Miller established that interactions between B and T cells are essential to their normal maturation and functions in mice. Later, Cooper and colleagues showed that, in mammals, B cells are generated in the liver of the fetus and in the bone marrow after birth. "These studies told us that almost everything we were thinking about in immunology had to be revised,” Dr. Cooper has said. These findings by Cooper which began over 50 years ago at the University of Minnesota have set the stage for several other important discoveries regarding immune deficiencies, treating autoimmune disorders and developing new cancer therapies. For a nice summary of both Cooper and Miller's contributions to the field of immunology, Dr. Ron Germain wrote an article in the New England Journal of Medicine

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Marc

Dr. Marc Jenkins, director of the Center for Immunology, is named a University of Minnesota Regents Professor

The Center for Immunology would like to congratulate Dr. Marc Jenkins, who has been appointed a Regents Professor of the University of Minnesota. The Regents Professorship is the highest honor the University of Minnesota can bestow on its faculty. This program not only recognizes the national and international prominence of the faculty member, but it also acknowledges the exceptional contributions that have been made to the University through teaching, research, scholarship, creative work, and collaboration with others.  As one of the world’s most distinguished immunologists, Dr. Jenkins has devoted his career to understanding how CD4+ T and B cell activation coordinates the entire response to pathogens, cancer cells or other antigens in the body. Dr. Jenkins' research has helped establish basic immunological principles that have lead to more effective vaccines and immunotherapies for rheumatoid arthritis, transplant rejection, and cancer.  He is a prolific and highly cited research scientist with over 175 articles and more than 18,000 citations.  In addition to receiving many national research awards, including the Pew Scholars Award and the AAI Meritorious Career Award, Dr. Jenkins has been invited to give more than 450 research seminars, 35 of which were keynote or honorary lectures. He is an extraordinary teacher and actively engages both graduate and undergraduate students.  He was instrumental in the creation of the Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota and served as its first Director of Graduate Studies. His leadership established the program’s national reputation as a “premier training environment in biomedical research.” Dr. Jenkins continues to influence those that he has, directly and indirectly, mentored over the years.  Dr. Jenkins recently received the  2018 AAI Excellence in Mentoring Award and the Carole J. Bland Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award for his efforts. In a news release, President Eric Kaler stated: "Professor Jenkins exemplifies the very best of our University in teaching, research, and scholarship.” Read more here

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SJ

Dr. Steve Jameson is elected to the AAI Council

CFI would like to extend our congratulations to Dr. Steve Jameson.  Dr. Jameson has been elected to the 2019-2023 AAI Council.  As a councillor, Dr. Jameson will be responsible for promoting the goals of AAI in order to advance the knowledge of immunology.  The council determines the nature and types of programs that can best achieve the mission of the AAI membership for the current and long-term sustainability of the association.  The council is comprised of AAI leaders that are recognized experts in their specific fields and are passionate about science and promoting development opportunities for researchers at every career stage. Dr. Jameson will begin his term on July 1, 2019.

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Dr. Stromnes was awarded the 2019 Julia Stagliano Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Catalyst Grant for her research project "Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Pancreas Cancer".  Read more...

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Sis and Vaiva

Drs. Vezys and Bhela awarded the 2019 Careers in Immunology Fellowship

Drs. Vaiva Vezys and Siddheshvar Bhela have been awarded an American Association of Immunologists 2019 Careers in Immunology Fellowship.

The AAI Careers in Immunology Fellowship Program supports the career development of young scientists by providing eligible PIs with one year of salary support for a trainee in their lab.  Postdoctoral trainee, Dr. Sid Bhela will receive salary support for his work on the regulatory function of tolerant CD8+ T cells. Congratulations to both Drs. Vezys and Bhela. For more information on the work being done in Dr. Vezys lab click here.

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On August 25, 2019, NBC news quoted Dr. Alex Khoruts in regards to the lack of guidelines for fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs).  Read more...

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On Thursday, April 18, 2019, the Center for Immunology hosted its first Alumni Celebration. For pictures of the event.   Read more...

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Empowering Women in Science held their "End of Year Social" on May 28, 2019, at Dual Citizen Brewing Company in St. Paul. The event was an opportunity for women and allies to network, learn more about the EWIS mission, and celebrate each other's accomplishments.  Read more...

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Dr. Marc Jenkins has been elected into the inaugural class of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) 2019 Distinguished Fellows of AAI. This program is one of the highest honors bestowed by AAI. Members are recognized for distinguished careers in the field of immunology; the new class of distinguished fellows has shown exceptional leadership to the immunology community at a national or international level; notable distinction as an educator and outstanding scientific contributions, as well as their service to AAI.  CFI would like to congratulate Dr. Jenkins on a well-deserved honor. Meet the class of 2019

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Silva

Dr. Silva receives a 2019 Research Excellence award

Congratulations to Dr. Milagros Silva(pictured here with Dr. Bitterman), she was awarded the Peter Bitterman Award for Outstanding Postdoctoral Basic Research poster award at the 20th Annual Robert P Hebbel Department of Medicine Research Day on May 16, 2019. The research day is sponsored by the Department of Medicine to recognize and showcase the wide range of research by investigators at all levels of training. It is an opportunity to share ideas and knowledge while stimulating discussion about opportunities for future collaboration.

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Hogquist

Dr. Kris Hogquist is selected as the 2019 AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award Recipient

Congratulations to Dr. Kris Hogquist, the 2019 AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award recipient. This award recognizes a mid-career scientist for outstanding research contributions to the field of immunology. Kris' research is focused on T cell development in the thymus, particularly positive and negative selection, tolerance, and T cell selection in immune homeostasis and response. AAI honored Kris at the annual AAI meeting in San Diego, CA in May 2019. The award is generously supported by Thermo Fisher Scientific and provides the winner with a cash award, meeting registration at the early rate, and travel support to attend the AAI annual meeting. Dr. Hogquist was able to present her research in an award lecture preceded by the award presentation.

 

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stromnes lab

The Stromnes lab is selected to receive a 2019 AAI Intersect Fellowship.

Congratulations to Drs. Ingunn Stromnes, Adam Burrack, and Stephen Shen for being selected as one of ten recipients of the AAI Intersect Fellowship Program for Computational Scientists and Immunologists.  

This fellowship is intended to improve understanding and communication between immunology researchers and computational scientists by affording an opportunity to train in each other’s discipline.  The Stromnes lab will work on the project: "Clonal and functional evolution of neoantigen specific T cells during immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer" along with Co-PI: Steve Shen, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, University of Minnesota. Details about this program may be found here

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The Center for Immunology would like to welcome Dr. Jesse Williams, Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology to our group in WMBB.  Read more...

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AK

Gut check on cancer

The Spring 2019 edition of the University of Minnesota magazine Discovery spotlights the work being done by Dr. Alexander Khoruts as he and Dr. Timothy Starr co-lead a team of UMN scientists hoping to answer the questions about the human microbiome's relationship with cancer.  The work is currently being sponsored by the inaugural Chainbreaker Breakthrough Cancer Research Grant. Khoruts is excited by the work being done by the team and hopes that as the research progresses more people will rally around the studies that will promote long-term health and potentially avoid cancer treatment associated issues.  To read the entire article written by Barbara Knox, click here.

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CP

Current Protocols Journals offered through U Libraries

The Health Sciences Libraries now offer full-text access to all the Current Protocol journals including:Current Protocols in Immunology and Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. These titles offer step-by-step techniques, procedures, and practical overviews that provide researchers with reliable, efficient laboratory methods to ensure reproducible results.

Meet your librarian
Sarah Jane Brown is a medical librarian and the liaison to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She is available to help navigate the varied landscape of medical and scientific literature by assisting you in conducting comprehensive literature searches, evaluating resources, and effectively using citation managers and other organizational tools. Get in to contact via email ([email protected]) or by phone (612-625-3159).

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Congratulations to Lee Meier, in April 2019 he was named one of the 2019 recipients of the President's Student Leadership and Service Award.  See the full list of recipients.  Read more...

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CFI would like to congratulate Dr. Brian Fife, he has been awarded one of the five collaborative two-year research grants supported by the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical GenomicsRead more...

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On January 17, 2019, the University of Minnesota hosted a conference to help faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students more effectively share knowledge and research with audiences outside of academia.  Read more...