Congratulations Dr. Sivapriya Kailasan Vanaja and Ms. Skylar Wright for having their paper, “A bacterial toxin co-opts caspase-3 to disable active gasdermin D and limit macrophage pyroptosis”  published in the journal Cell Reports. The paper, first-authored by Ms. Skylar Wright, a graduate student, identified a novel molecular mechanism by which a clinically significant human pathogen, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli, utilizes its virulence factor, Shiga toxin, to effectively suppress host protective noncanonical inflammasome responses.

Congratulations to Dr. Penghua Wang and his laboratory for having their paper, “UBR5 promotes antiviral immunity by disengaging the transcriptional brake on RIG-I like receptors" published in the journal Nature Communications ( https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45141-1). This study screens 375 definite ubiquitin ligases and identifies that UBR5 promotes RIG-I like receptor transcription epigenetically and antiviral immunity.   Dr. Duomeng Yang is the first the author. Immunology Chairman Dr. Anthony Vella and Department of Medicine faculty member Dr. Yanlin Wang also contributed to this work.

Congratulations to Dr. Beiyan Zhou and Dr. Anthony Vella on the award of their NIH R01 grant through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute entitled, “ASCVD risk assessment in T2DM facilitated by novel computational immunology programs”.

Congratulations to Dr. Vijay Rathinam and Dr. Puja Kumari for having their paper, 'Host extracellular vesicles confer cytosolic access to systemic LPS licensing non-canonical inflammasome sensing and pyroptosis’ published in the journal Nature Cell Biology. The paper first-authored by Dr. Puja Kumari, a postdoctoral fellow in the Rathinam lab, identified extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by host cells capture circulating bacterial ipopolysaccharide (LPS) and escort it to the cytosol of cells enabling non-canonical inflammasome sensing and cell death. The findings from this study provide insights into cytosolic immune surveillance of systemic microbial products.

Congratulations to Dr. Kepeng Wang for having his paper, “Cancer immunotherapy with enveloped self-amplifying mRNA CARG-2020 that modulates IL-12,  IL-17 and PD-L1 pathways to prevent tumor recurrence” published in Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (APSB). The paper describes a novel oncolytic viral therapy for cancers that incorporates payloads targeting IL-12, IL-17, and PD-L1 signaling. Successful eradication of established colon and liver tumors in mouse models points to the agent’s potential in future clinical use in humans. Former postdoctoral fellow Dr. Ju Chen from Dr. Kepeng Wang’s lab is the leading author of the publication.  Please use this link to access the publication: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211383523003416

Congratulations to Dr. Zhichao Fan for receiving another Cystic Fibrosis Foundation grant entitled, “Impact of CFTR in monocyte adhesion and integrin function”.  Dr. Beiyan Zhou and Dr. Anthony Vella from the Department of Immunology and Dr. Wenqi Gan from the Department of Public Health Sciences serve as Co-Investigators.

Dr. Sivapriya Kailasan Vanaja received an AAI 2023 Careers in Immunology Fellowship which provides one year of salary for postdoctoral fellow Dr. Rafael Ricci de Azevedo. Their project is entitled, “Mechanisms of Shiga toxin-mediated cell death".

Dr. Kepeng Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology, was selected as the 2023 recipient of the Osborn Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science Graduate Teaching.  This award recognizes a UConn Health Graduate School faculty member for his or her commitment to providing the best education in the classroom and training in the laboratory. Congratulations Dr. Wang!

Congratulations to Graduate Student Skylar Wright for receiving first place for best oral presentation at the 2023 Graduate Student Research Day. Skylar is a member of Dr. Vijay Rathinam’s laboratory, and her project focuses on understanding how pyroptosis--an inflammatory form of cell death--is able to cause death in unstimulated bystander cells and contribute to widespread inflammation during bacterial infections.

Congratulations to Graduate Student Kristina Delgado for receiving first place for best poster presentation at the 2023 Graduate Student Research Day.   Kristina’s project centers around the development of a vaccine against Treponema pallidum (Tp), the causative agent of syphilis. With the guidance and support of her mentors, Drs. Justin Radolf and Kelly Hawley, and in collaboration with the Spirochete Research Laboratories, Kristina employs a learning-from-nature approach that exploits the ability of Tp-infected rabbits to clear syphilitic infection. Kristina's project focuses on dissecting the antigenic profile of the Tpß-barrel-forming outer membrane proteins (OMPs), specifically the surface-exposed extracellular loops, to inform vaccine candidate selection. Kristina’s achievements not only advance our understanding of the antibody response elicited by Tp, they also could revolutionize strategies for development of a much-needed, globally efficacious syphilis vaccine.