The Cytokine Society is proud to announce the winners of its 2026 Young Investigator Awards, recognizing outstanding early-career researchers advancing the field of cytokine and interferon biology. Winners will be honored at Cytokines 2026, taking place 18-21 October in Glasgow, UK.
2026 Cytokine Society-Regeneron New Investigator Awards for Excellence in Cytokine & Interferon Research
Mohamad Abedi, PhD
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Abedi’s lab engineers de novo-designed proteins and synthetic signaling systems to control immune cell communication. His work combines computational protein design, synthetic biology, machine learning, and high-throughput experimentation to create new cytokines, receptors, and context-aware immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. He completed his PhD at Caltech and postdoctoral training at the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design. His work has been recognized by the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, HHMI Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship, and the Michelson Prize: Next Generation Grants.
Talk title: Conditionally Active Synthetic Cytokines for Precise Immune Control
Nicholas Adams, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center
Dr. Adams received his PhD from Memorial Sloan Kettering under the mentorship of Dr. Joseph Sun, where his thesis work defined molecular mechanisms that regulate natural killer cell responses during viral infection. He then completed postdoctoral training as a Damon Runyon Fellow with Dr. Boris Reizis at New York University Grossman School of Medicine and the University of Chicago, elucidating the role of chromatin organization in the control of cytokine production by dendritic cells. His independent laboratory, established at the University of Rochester in 2026, studies the molecular regulation of dendritic cell function, including cytokine responses and tolerogenic function.
Talk title: Chromatin-mediated control of cytokine production by dendritic cells
Victor S. Cortez, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Dr. Cortez completed his graduate training under Dr. Marco Colonna at Washington University in St. Louis and postdoctoral training under Dr. Richard Locksley at the University of California, San Francisco. Research in the Cortez laboratory focuses on how innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) establish lasting tissue adaptations that enhance organ function and defense. Building on his findings of effector-memory ILC2s, his laboratory investigates the regulatory programs underlying ILC states and how ILCs shape tissue biology across distinct environments.
Talk title: IL-25-induced memory ILC2s orchestrate long-term intestinal adaptation and enforce mucosal resilience
Chen Yao, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology and Kidney Cancer Program, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dr. Yao earned her PhD from the University of Minnesota under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Kaplan and furthered her expertise through postdoctoral training in the systems immunology laboratory led by Dr. John O’Shea at the National Institutes of Health. The Yao lab uses advanced computational and experimental techniques to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling T-cell immunity against cancer and chronic infections, applying this knowledge toward more effective immunotherapies and vaccines.
Talk title: BACH2 dosage establishes the hierarchy of stemness and finetunes antitumor immunity in CAR T cells
2026 Amanda E.I. Proudfoot Tribute Award for Advances in Chemokine Biology by a Trainee
Raymond Qin
Postdoctoral Fellow, Joanna Groom Lab, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia
Raymond’s research focuses on chemokine and cytokine regulation of tumor tertiary lymphoid structure formation and maturation. More broadly, he is interested in how immune cells migrate in different chemokine environments, using high-dimensional microscopy imaging and image analysis to dissect cell behaviors.
Talk title: Defining the Cellular and Molecular Networks that Underlie the Formation and Maturation of Murine Tumour Tertiary Lymphoid Structures
2026 Christina Fleischmann Award for Outstanding Young Female Investigators
Esen Sefik, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine
A full biography for Dr. Sefik will be added shortly.
Talk title: An IFNγ-Centered Epithelial–T cell Axis Sustains Villous Damage in Celiac Disease
2026 Sidney & Joan Pestka Graduate Award
Catherine M. Phelps
PhD Candidate, Meisel Lab, Program in Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Catherine’s research focuses on the mechanisms through which lifestyle factors – including exercise, diet, supplements, and probiotics – impact immune responses during homeostasis and complex diseases, particularly cancer. Her PhD work uncovered that exercise exerts antitumor benefits by changing metabolic output of the commensal microbiome, leading to increased levels of microbial-produced formate that promotes anticancer CD8 T cell response and immunotherapy efficacy via Nrf2 signaling – positioning formate as a potential exercise mimetic and biomarker for favorable immunotherapy response. She is also interested in the establishment and functional roles of gut-extrinsic microbiomes in tumors and healthy tissues.
Talk title: Exercise-induced microbial metabolite enhances CD8 T cell antitumor immunity promoting immunotherapy efficacy
2026 Sidney & Joan Pestka Post-Graduate Award
Simon Grassmann, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Joseph Sun Lab, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Simon’s research focuses on how cytokine signals are interpreted in a context-dependent manner, with a particular emphasis on STAT transcription factors and their role in shaping antiviral NK cell responses. He developed a robust CUT&RUN workflow optimized for primary lymphocytes that allows high-resolution mapping of STAT chromatin occupancy across distinct environments, aiming to make this approach broadly accessible to the field.
Talk title: STAT3 operates as a cytokine-dependent transcriptional switch in antiviral NK cells
Please join us in congratulating this year’s Young Investigator Award winners! The Society looks forward to celebrating their achievements at Cytokines 2026 in Glasgow, UK, 18-21 October.