Launched in 2008, the NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis aims to shed light on the molecular mechanisms that cause infectious diseases, define key molecules involved in the body’s response to injury and infection, elucidate the rules of engagement between the body’s microbiome and immune system, and understand why inflammatory processes spin out of control under some circumstances.

Recently, NOMIS announced its 2021 NOMIS Fellows:

Dan Chen – Postdoctoral Fellow, Kaech Lab

Chen will direct her expertise in cancer research toward understanding the anti-tumor immune response to one of the deadliest forms of cancer: glioblastoma. Glioblastoma affects cells in the brain and nervous system, which makes it extremely difficult to treat with typical approaches such as chemotherapy.

Lidia Jiménez – Postdoctoral Fellow, Lemke Lab

Jiménez will be studying TAM receptors on macrophages in the thymus and the spleen. Both tissues have a high ratio of cell death due to normal physiological processes occurring within the tissue itself, and TAM receptors are known to play a crucial role in clearing dead cells and controlling immune homeostasis.

Andre Mu – Postdoctoral Fellow, Ayres Lab

Mu’s project will address why some patients develop severe illness while others seem to have no symptoms of disease despite the pathogens’ ability to infect, replicate and transmit. He aims to determine the compositional structure of gut microbiomes before and during infectious diseases in order to identify signature microbiome markers that may predispose a person to acquiring infections.

Jan Pencik – Postdoctoral Fellow, Shaw Lab

Pencik is focusing on non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer. His work will serve to identify some of the most critical proteins linked to a gene called STK11 (also known as LKB1) that regulate a loss of therapeutic efficacy, providing valuable insights for designing optimal therapeutic strategies tailored toward hard-to-treat non-small cell lung tumors.