The Cornell Center for Immunology invites applications for funding to pursue multidisciplinary research projects in Immunology for up to $40,000. Proposals are due at 5:00 pm on January 14, 2026, and awards will be announced at the end of February 2026. Support for this grant mechanism is provided by the Cornell Center for Immunology and the Office of the Vice President for Research.
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Smolka, a biochemist and former interim director of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, will support life sciences across the university. His two-year appointment began May 1. Smolka succeeds Hector Aguilar-Carreño, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, who served in the role from July 2024 through April 2025.
Three innovative approaches to treating infections, fighting cancer, and enhancing the body’s immune system have been selected for funding through the Cornell Center for Immunology’s 2025 Multidisciplinary Seed Grants.
The new platform, which provided 100% protection from influenza and COVID-19 in mouse models, could vastly improve vaccine administration and the efficacy of the current flu vaccine.
Krystyn J. Van Vliet has been named vice president for innovation and external engagement strategy, and Gary Koretzky ’78 will serve as interim vice provost for research.
Certain gut-dwelling fungi flourish in severe cases of COVID-19, amplifying the excessive inflammation that drives this disease while also causing long-lasting changes in the immune system, according to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.
A new Cornell program will train graduate students interested in specializing in “immuno-engineering,” an emerging hybrid field that combines engineering and immunology.
Cornell researchers will use a five-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate whether chemical inhibitors of epigenetic regulation – including many FDA-approved drugs – could be re-purposed to treat HIV-1 infections that are persistent in tissues and represent the biggest challenge for a cure.
Dr. Hector Aguilar-Carreño, professor of virology in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, was chosen for this fellowship due to his demonstrated success in and bright potential for leadership. He is among only nine fellows across the entire SUNY system and Cornell’s sole representative in the program.
Li Gan studies how abnormal proteins and the body’s immune system drive Alzheimer’s disease.
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