Welcome
Our Mission
*Advance our knowledge of the basic immunology of inflammation, autoimmunity, cancer, transplantation and infection and to translate this new knowledge to novel strategies for diagnosis, prevention and therapeutic intervention.
*Foster collaborations and further strengthen interactions among the Penn community of immunologists.
Spotlights on IFI
Congratulations to the following IFI Faculty on their excellent achievements
Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, Department of Medicine-Recipient of the William Osler Patient Oriented Research Award
Aimee S. Payne, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology- Recipient of the Lady Barbara Colyton Prize for Autoimmune Research
Jason D. Christie, MD, MSCE, Department of Medicine- Recipient of the Arthur K. Asbury Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award
Blood and Guts
Research led by Nina Luning Prak of the Perelman School of Medicine has created a new “anatomic atlas” of how B cells, the immune system’s producer of antibodies, link up to form networks. This map will be an important resource for researchers and clinicians studying infectious diseases, the microbiome, vaccine responses and tissue-specific immunity.
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Improving Transplants
A newly characterized molecule found in the bone marrow may be an effective target for ensuring better stem cell transplants, according to a study by George Hajishengallis of the School of Dental Medicine and colleagues. The protein could also play a role in helping defeat certain blood cancers.
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Congratulations to Dr. Carl June and the entire Penn, CHOP and Novartis CART-19 Team!
*FDA Advisors Say Yes to Personalized Cancer Therapy*
On Wednesday, an FDA advisory committee voted unanimously to approve a personalized cellular therapy – the first of its kind – for pediatric and young adult leukemia developed at Penn Medicine. The vote is the last step before the therapy is formally approved for sale by Novartis, Penn’s collaborator to research and develop CTL019 and other forms of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. Carl June, MD, director of the Center for Cellular Therapies in the Abramson Cancer Center, and Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD, director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Frontier Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, are quoted in extensive national coverage of the vote.
Communications Placements
Philadelphia Inquirer • The New York Times • The Washington Post • NPR • Reuters • Wall Street Journal • TIME • NBC News • NBC Nightly News (Clip) • CBS News • Associated Press via ABC News • STAT News • Nature • Fortune • The Hill • Endpoints News • HealthDay News via WebMD