Congratulations to Dr. Sivapriya Kailasan Vanaja for having her paper, “A bacterial autotransporter impairs innate immune responses by targeting the transcription factor TFE3” published in the journal Nature Communications. The paper first authored by Dr. Atri Ta, a postdoctoral fellow in the Kailasan Vanaja lab, identified a novel autotransporter protein secreted by Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli that functions as a suppressor of host type I interferon defense. The findings from this study provide insights into the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens diminish the host innate immune responses to successfully establish an infection.

Congratulations to Dr. Tian Tian on receiving a travel award and being selected to give an oral presentation at the Keystone Symposia "Innate Immunity: From Innate Sensing to Adaptive Responses" held in Snowbird, Utah. Dr. Tian is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Jianbin Ruan's laboratory and her project focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of innate immune signaling pathways that regulate Gasdermin (GSDM)-mediated pyroptotic cell death. Pictured in the photo: Dr. Tian, Dr. Jianbin Ruan and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Chengliang Wang. 

Congratulations to Dr. Jianbin Ruan for having his paper, "Structural Basis for GSDMB pore formation and it's Targeting by IpaH7.8", published in the journal Nature. This paper presents the cryo-EM structures of both Gasdermin B (GSDMB) pore and GSDMB in complex with a Shigella effector, IpaH7.8. The study sheds light on the structural mechanisms that govern GSDMB-mediated pyroptosis, which is regulated by pathogenic bacteria and alternative splicing. This work is a significant contribution to the field and is sure to have a lasting impact on future research in this area. 

Congratulations to Dr. Beiyan Zhou on being elected Fellowship of the American Heart Association (FAHA) conferred by the Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB). Fellowship recognizes members for excellence, innovative and sustained contributions in the areas of scholorship, practice, and/or education.

Dr. Anthony Vella, Chair of the Department of Immunology who holds the Boehringer Ingelheim Chair in Immunology and is the Senior Associate Dean of Research Planning and Coordination; has been elected as a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. Dr. Vella's laboratory research focuses on aspects of T cell costimulation and inflammation biology with the aim to uncover how T cells function. Overall, his laboratory has uncovered fundamental concepts in basic immunology and adjuvant research, and has extended these finds into tumor immunotherapy projects, T cell immunobiology, inflammatory based disease models including lung injury and metabolism research. 

Congratulations to Dr. Adam Adler from the Department of Immunology and Dr. Annabelle Rodriguez-Oquendo from the Center for Vascular Biology on the award of their NIH R21 grant through the National Cancer Institute entitled, "Understanding how the interaction between Lag3 deficiency and hypercholesterolemia impact anti-tumor immunity and cardiovascular disease in a melanoma model".

Ziming Cao was selected as a Robert Gunn Student Award finalist by the American Physiology Society Cell & Molecular Physiology Section and was invited to present a poster at the Robert Gunn Student Award competition at the APS Summit 2023 in Long Beach, California. Ziming’s project in Dr. Zhichao Fan's lab is using single-cell RNA sequencing to understand the heterogeneity of neutrophils in cherubic mice. This work is a collaboration with the labs of Dr. Beiyan Zhou and Dr. I-Ping Chen.

Congratulations to Dr. Beiyan Zhou on her nomination to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE). Members are elected by the current membership on the basis of their accomplishments in science, engineering and/or technology.

Congratulations to Dr. Penghua Wang on the award of his NIH R21 grant through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entitled, “UBXN1 Regulates Inflammasome Signaling.”

Congratulations to Alyssa Matz and Keaton Karlinsey for receiving  Predoctoral Research Awards from the American Heart Association! These highly competitive awards provide two years of full stipend support to carry out their innovative projects. Alyssa will apply her newly developed computational program to decipher B cell function in obesity. Keaton will develop a supernetwork-guided prediction model for cardiovascular disease risks in the diabetic population. Alyssa (Ph.D. candidate) and Keaton (M.D./Ph.D. candidate) are members of Dr. Beiyan Zhou’s lab.