joefner@cytokinesociety.org - Biweekly newsletter of the International Cytokine & Interferon Society

Laura Mackay Awarded the 2024 ICIS-Luminex John R. Kettman Award for Excellence in Cytokine & Interferon Research Mid-Career

May 1, 2024

Laura Mackay has been selected as the 2024 ICIS-Luminex John R. Kettman Award for Excellence in Cytokine & Interferon Research in recognition for her outstanding work on memory T cell populations and the cytokines that control them. Professor Mackay’s discoveries have resulted in dramatic paradigm shifts and have contributed enormously to the T cell field, spawning a new focus on tissue immunity. Her accomplishments are shaping and redefining how we understand cellular immune responses and have driven a new field of T cell immunology. These accomplishments indeed far exceed her designated “mid-career” stage. [READ MORE]

Cytokines Regulating Neuroimmunometabolism Session Chairs: Lydia Lynch, Princeton University and Ai Ing Lim, Princeton University

Cytokines Regulating Neuroimmunometabolism Session at AAI 2024 on May 5th

May 1, 2024

International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS) Symposium at AAI 2024 – Cytokines Regulating Neuroimmunometabolism, Session Chairs: Lydia Lynch, Princeton University and Ai Ing Lim, Princeton University
Description: The role of cytokines in non-classical immune-related physiology, focusing on how cytokines regulate neuroimmunology and metabolism, as well as the emerging field linking all 3 systems in ‚neuroimmunometabolism‘.
[READ MORE]

Changdeokgung Palace (left) and Bukchon Hanok Village

Top 10 “must visit” places in Seoul — continued…

April 30, 2024

Local Organizing Committee’s next two on the list of 10 “must visit” places in Seoul. Thanks to the Cytokines 2024 LOC member Jae Hun Shin, PhD, Yonsei University, Korea, we will feature two of the top 10 things to do in Seoul. If you missed the first two please click here. [READ MORE]

Brian G. Morreale, M.Sc. (They/Them) Pre-Doctoral Candidate, Laboratory of Scott Abrams, PhD., Dept. of Immunology Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, USA

New Member Mini-Bio Brian G. Morreale, M.Sc., Pre-Doctoral Candidate, Dept. of Immunology Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

April 30, 2024

Brian G. Morreale, M.Sc. (They/Them) Pre-Doctoral Candidate, Laboratory of Scott Abrams, PhD., Dept. of Immunology Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, USA @MorrealeBrian After graduating Daemen College in Amherst, NY, Mr. Morreale received his master’s degree in Cancer Sciences at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY. There he was [READ MORE]

Four ICIS Members Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

April 30, 2024

Congratulations to the following Lifetime ICIS members have been elected into the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Kaech, Susan M.; professor and director, NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif.

O’Garra, Anne; professor and principal group leader, Immunoregulation and Infection Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute (United Kingdom)

Trinchieri, Giorgio; chief, Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, distinguished investigator, and head, Cancer Immunology Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.

As well as long time ICIS member Mantovani, Alberto; emeritus professor of general pathology and vice rector for research, Humanitas University (Italy) [READ MORE]

Clinical Trials

April 29, 2024

Recombinant Interleukin-15 in Combination With Checkpoint Inhibitors Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in People With Refractory CancersClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT03388632Sponsor National Cancer Institute (NCI)Information provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) (National Cancer Institute (NCI)) (Responsible Party) Interleukin-34 Level in Periodontal DiseaseClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05962567Sponsor Ain Shams UniversityInformation provided by Nada Zidan, Ain Shams University (Responsible Party) TNFalpha and Interleukin 2 [READ MORE]

2023 ICIS-Regeneron Award Winner – Edward Chuong, Assistant Professor at the BioFrontiers Institute, at the University of Colorado Boulder

April 16, 2024

EDWARD CHUONG, Assistant Professor at the BioFrontiers Institute, at the University of Colorado Boulder My lab studies the interplay between transposons and immune evolution. We can think of transposons as a genetic infection that we can never get rid of. Although our cells have evolved defenses against them, transposons are [READ MORE]

Clinical Trials

April 2, 2024

Clinical Trials of interest to cytokine & interferon researchers [READ MORE]

Introducing Keynote Speakers for the Upcoming Cytokines 2024 & KAI 2024 Joint Meeting

March 5, 2024

Dr. Judith Allen is a professor of Immunobiology at the University of Manchester. The Allen laboratory investigates the host immune response to parasite infection with a focus on type 2 immunity, the response mammals characteristically make to large multicellular parasites (helminths). Nobel Laureate Dr. Drew Weissman is a professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Weissman, in collaboration with Nobel Laureate Dr. Katalin Karikó, discovered the ability of modified nucleosides in RNA to suppress activation of innate immune sensors and increase the translation of mRNA containing certain modified nucleosides. [READ MORE]

Dr. Brian Kim on the left, and Dr. David Artis on the right at their visit in February to Allen Institute in Seattle, WA. Photo from Dr Kim’s Twitter/X account.

The Tango of Sensation and Inflammation Emerges

March 5, 2024

Dr. Brian Kim on the left, and Dr. David Artis on the right at their visit in February to Allen Institute in Seattle, WA. Photo from Dr Kim’s Twitter/X account.

Some dermatological disorders such as atopic dermatitis, alopecia areater, and vitiligo have few treatments available due to the lack of effective medications currently on the market. However, this might change soon with the formation of a new biotech entity called Alys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that launched on 12th of February. It started with a substantial 100-million-dollar investment from Medicxi, the European healthcare investment fund, with the goal of transforming the treatment paradigm for several dermatology indications of significant prevalence and major unmet need. Alys, based in Boston and Geneva, is the combination of the assets and platforms of Aldena Therapeutics, Graegis Pharmaceuticals, Granular Therapeutics, Klirna Biotech, Nira Biosciences and Vimela Therapeutics, and has a world class leadership team that brings together experts across dermatology and advanced scientific fields. [READ MORE]