We are thrilled to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our current and former trainees, whose dedication is making a significant impact across diverse fields. Whether advancing in research, moving into leadership roles in industry, or earning prestigious awards, their expertise, creativity, and passion are driving innovation and shaping the future of science. We are proud of their accomplishments and excited to see them tackle new challenges, inspire change, and continue making meaningful contributions. Congratulations to all our awardees. Your success is a testament to your hard work, and we look forward to all that you will achieve.

Current CFI Trainees

Graduate Students

Adrianna Rivera-León, MSTP/MICaB PhD student in Kris Hogquist's lab, received an F30 AI194459 "Testing the role of microbial infections in the development of auto-antibodies to type I interferons" that will start Jan 1, 2026.

Enoc Granados Centeno, MICaB PhD student in Michael Farrar's lab, received a two-year Hematology Inclusion Pathway (HIP) Fellowship from the American Society for Hematology (ASH), which began on July 1, 2025. This competitive program supports trainees committed to advancing diversity and excellence in hematology, and Enoc’s selection reflects his strong potential and dedication to the field. Enoc will focus on "Overcoming CD4 T cell dysfunction in B cell acuter lymphoblastic leukemia."

Erandika Senevirathne, Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics PhD Graduate Student in Tanya Freedman's lab, received a travel award and was chosen to give an abstract talk for which she received an Oral Presentation Award at the 2025 FASEB Science Research Conference "Signal Transduction in the Immune System"

Hannah Hillman, MICaB PhD student in Jesse Williams' lab, was originally awarded a two-year AHA pre-doctoral fellowship in January 2025. She recently received and has accepted an NIH F31 fellowship from the NHLBI for her project "Targeting Trem2 in Atherosclerosis Progression", starting September 2025.

Julia Jackson, MICaB PhD student in Dave Masopust's lab, was awarded an AAI Trainee Abstract Award at IMMUNOLOGY 2025 for her submitted abstract "Iterative stimulation generates exhaustion-resistant T cells". Her abstract was also selected for a block symposium talk.

Lexi Luo, MSTP/MICaB PhD student in Michael Farrar's lab, received an NIH F30 fellowship from the NCI that began August 1, 2025 for her work "Activating low-affinity T cells to prevent relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia."

Michael Chang, MICaB PhD student in Jesse Williams' lab, received a NIH T32 fellowship for “Inclusive excellence training program in the systems biology of cardiovascular inflammation.”

Monica Sauer, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics PhD Graduate Student in Tanya Freedman's lab, for being selected for a Flash Talk at the 2025 FASEB Science Research Conference "Signal Transduction in the Immune System".  

Taylor DePaux, MICaB PhD student in Stephen Jameson’s lab, was awarded a one-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to study the “Role of S1PRs and KLF transcription factors in CD8 T cell trafficking.”

Terren Stenger, a MICaB PhD student in the Jeff Miller and Martin Felices labs, received an NIH/NCI F31 Predoctoral Fellowship for the project titled "A Dual-Antigen NK Cell Engager to Overcome Ovarian Cancer Tumor Heterogeneity."

Trevor Tankersley, MICaB PhD student in Sara Hamilton-Hart's lab, was awarded an ARCS Foundation Fellowship, which supports outstanding graduate students in science, and was recognized as a 2024 AAI Young Investigator Award winner at the 2024 AIC Conference.

Postdoctoral Scholars

Courtney Matson, a postdoctoral researcher in Dave Masopust's lab, received the 2025 American Skin Association Mulvaney Family Foundation Research Grant for her project “Tissue‑resident memory T cells as a novel therapeutic target in vitiligo” at the University of Minnesota. This competitive grant supports innovative research in dermatology and skin disease.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded Erin Lucas, a post-doctoral fellow in LMP associate professor Sara Hamilton Hart’s laboratory, a two-year research grant for “Determining factors of inflammation that support the expansion and function of long-lived effector cell CD8 T cells in a mature memory compartment.”

Haiguang Wang, a Research Assistant Professor in Xavier Revelo's lab, has been selected as a 2025 Pinnacle Research Award recipient from the AASLD Foundation, a prestigious honor that supports exceptional early-career investigators poised to make high-impact contributions to liver disease research. This award recognizes both scientific promise and the potential to advance the field through innovative, translational work. Haiguang’s current research focuses on how microbial exposure and insulin receptor signaling in Tfh cells shape intestinal immunity and influence the development of Metabolic-dysfunction Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH), offering important insights into new therapeutic pathways. Haiguang is also a returning member of the CFI community, having earned his PhD in Kris Hogquist’s lab before completing his postdoctoral training and rejoining UMN as a Research Assistant Professor in the Revelo Lab.

Postdoctoral Scholar J.T. Greene from the Freedman lab, gave a fantastic talk and won an oral presentation award at the Pharmacology Symposium at UMN. A lesson in communicating immunology to non-immunologists.  

Katarina Cheng, a postdoctoral/med fellow in the Masopust Lab, received a Spring 2025 UMN Early Innovation Grant for her project “Modeling Tissue Immunity for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications.” Her work focuses on developing improved tissue-processing methods that preserve the full tissue microenvironment, enabling more accurate modeling of tissue immunity. This project aims to standardize highly effective techniques that can drive clinically actionable discoveries in immune biology.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded Nicholas Maurice, a postdoctoral research fellow in Stephen Jameson’s lab, a two-year grant for “Paving the way for bystander T cell immunotherapies.”

CFI Alumni Awards

Anders Lindstedt, formerly of the Freedman Lab, was awarded a Dinnaken Fellowship from the Cargill Family. The fellowship supported his salary, publication submissions, and experiments leading up to his October 2025 dissertation defense. He is now completing the remaining requirements to earn his MD at UMN Medical School.

Nicholas Jarjour, formerly of the Jameson Lab and now an associate investigator at the Versiti Blood Research Institute, received a two-year NIAID grant to study how cytokines shape tissue-resident memory CD8 T-cells and influence their long-term function. His work aims to inform improved vaccine strategies, including potential advances for pathogens such as HIV.

Noah Gavil, formerly of the Masopust Lab and currently an Internal Medicine Resident in the ABIM Research Pathway at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, received the 2025 Graduating Medical Student Research Award and the 2025 J. Jacob Kaplan Award prior to earning his MD from the University of Minnesota in May 2025. These competitive awards recognize outstanding research achievements and scholarly excellence among graduating medical students.

Pamela Rosato, former postdoctoral researcher in the David Masopust Lab and now an Assistant Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, is a recipient of the 2025 AAI ASPIRE Award. The AAI ASPIRE Award recognizes very early‑career investigators for their research accomplishments and professional promise in immunology, providing recipients with a cash prize, travel support, and an opportunity to present their work at a special symposium during the AAI annual meeting

Yingzheng Xu, formerly of the Williams Lab, was awarded the Steer-Pruitt Award for Outstanding Cardiovascular Science from the UMN Medical School, recognizing excellence in cardiovascular research. He has since moved into a Researcher 5 bioinformatics position in the Daniel Garry Lab at the Lillehei Heart Institute, University of Minnesota.

Zoe Schmiechen, formerly of the Stromnes Lab, received three major UMN Medical School trainee honors in Spring 2025 prior to her defense and transition to a Post-Doctoral Scholar position in the NCI Pediatric Oncology Branch in Dr. Rosa Nguyen’s lab. These competitive awards, including the Milne/Brandenburg Award, J. Jacob Kaplan Award, and the Bacaner Research Award , recognize outstanding research excellence and scholarly achievement by graduate trainees.

 We apologize if we missed your recent award. Please keep us updated on your accomplishments by emailing us at [email protected]