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.
News
Standout scientist: Dr. Hector Aguilar-Carreño garners top SUNY fellowship
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.
Catching the Memory Thief
Lymphoma mutation yields super-competitive immune cells
The key to understanding how the most aggressive lymphomas arise and resist current therapies may lie in mutations that disrupt a critical natural selection process among antibody-producing B cells, according to a multi-institutional preclinical study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.
Scientists detail major mechanism lung cancers use to evade immune attack
A protein commonly found at high levels in lung cancer cells controls a major immunosuppressive pathway that allows lung tumors to evade immune attack, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Common dietary fiber promotes allergy-like immune responses
New study finds that dietary inulin fiber alters the metabolism of certain gut bacteria, which in turn triggers what scientists call type 2 inflammation in the gut and lungs.
Study offers new insights into immune mechanisms of inflammatory disease
A new study suggests that a unique set of regulatory networks controlled by neurons in the gut may be viable targets for future drug therapies to combat chronic inflammatory diseases including asthma, allergy and inflammatory bowel disease.
Pain-sensing gut neurons protect against inflammation

Undergrad publishes theory on immune dysfunction in space
Rocky An ’23 proposes a theory that could solve the decades-old mystery of why astronauts’ immune systems become suppressed in space.
Cells help immune system tolerate friendly gut bacteria
Immune cells called group 3 innate lymphoid cells play an essential role in establishing tolerance to symbiotic microbes that dwell in the human gastrointestinal tract, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.