The Cornell Center for Immunology is pleased to announce three innovative projects that have been awarded 2026 Multidisciplinary Seed Grants in Immunology. These grants demonstrate our commitment to supporting multidisciplinary investigative teams as they collaborate on complex questions in immunology and develop innovative, discovery-driven technologies.
2026 Grant Projects:
Control of antigen presentation by an unusual pathogen-derived protein modification
Jeremy Baskin, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, College of Arts and Sciences and the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology; and Pamela Chang, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine. Grant: $40,000
This project investigates how pathogens interfere with the immune system’s ability to alert T cells by disrupting antigen presentation in infected cells. Using newly developed chemical proteomic tools, the team will identify and characterize a previously unrecognized pathogen-driven protein modification on host factors involved in these pathways and determine how it alters their function. By defining this mechanism of immune evasion, the work aims to uncover new strategies for strengthening immune responses to infection.
Microbial education of neonatal thymopoiesis
Ilana Brito, Associate Professor, Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering; and Brian Rudd, MPH, Professor of Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine. Grant: $40,000
Researchers are investigating how the maternal microbiome shapes neonatal thymopoiesis, the process by which T cells develop early in life. Using a mouse model, they found that antibiotic-driven disruption of maternal microbes alters thymic selection and leads to long-term changes in the peripheral T cell compartment. The goal of the project is to identify the mechanisms by which thymic selection is altered and determine which microbial species, proteins and metabolites are responsible, helping explain how early-life exposures program lifelong disease risk.
Controlling the Conformational Ensemble of HCV E2 to Elicit Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
Andrew Flyak, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine; and Brian Crane, George W. and Grace L. Todd Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, College of Arts and Sciences. Grant: $20,000
Researchers aim to improve hepatitis C vaccine design by stabilizing the CD81 binding site on the viral E2 glycoprotein, a key target for broadly neutralizing antibodies. Combining molecular dynamics simulations with DEER spectroscopy, they will map how different conformational states influence recognition by germline precursors of broadly neutralizing antibodies. The goal is to define which conformations promote effective antibody engagement and to test engineered immunogens that enhance these responses in a humanized mouse model.
APC-targeted GM3-LNP mRNA vaccination for EGFR-mutant lung cancer
Shaoyi Jiang, Robert S. Langer ’70 Family and Institute Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell Engineering; Vivek Mittal, Gerald J.Ford-O.Wayne Isom Professor of Research in Cardiothoracic surgery, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medicine; and Yongfeng He, Assistant Professor of Cancer Biology Research in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine. Grant: $20,000
This team is engineering a glycan-modified lipid nanoparticle (GM3-LNP) platform to enhance delivery of mRNA vaccines to antigen-presenting cells in secondary lymphoid organs, addressing inefficient immune priming with current mRNA vaccines. Using mRNA encoding the oncogenic EGFR-L858R mutation, they will evaluate APC targeting and activation, measure EGFR-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses and assess tumor control in genetically engineered mouse models. The goal is to determine whether APC-directed antigen delivery enhances T cell priming and strengthens anti-tumor immunity. These studies will determine whether APC-directed antigen delivery enhances T cell priming and improves tumor control.
Circulating Stem-Like CD4 T Cells in Tissue Immune Surveillance
Scott Leddon, Senior Research Associate of Microbiology & Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine; and Andrew Grimson, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, College of Arts and Sciences. Grant: $40,000
This project examines stem-like CD4 T cells, a regenerative population that sustains immune responses in chronic infection, cancer and autoimmunity. Using optogenetic time-stamping and single-cell RNA/ATAC multiome profiling, the team will track T cells exiting inflamed tissue and define their transcriptional and chromatin landscapes, as well as their temporal dynamics and relationships to other T cell subsets. The goal is to identify developmental trajectories and phenotypic markers that enable prospective isolation of these cells, laying the groundwork for their use in T cell–based immunotherapies.
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.
