Annual Scientific Conference 2025

Friday, November 14

12:30-1:00 PM

Conference Check-in in Monterey Ballroom

1:00-1:10 PM

Welcome and Introductions

Conference Co-Directors: Tobias Lanz, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine - Immunology & Rheumatology and Anusha Kalbasi, MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology – Radiation Therapy

1:10-2:00 PM

Session 1

1:10-1:30 PM

Zinaida Good, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Immunology and Rheumatology), Learning from patient data to advance engineered T cell immunotherapy designs

1:30-1:45 PM

Jessica Diarra, Graduate student, Sean Bendall and Everett Meyer Labs, Integrative single-cell multi-omic and functional profiling of human bone marrow regulatory T cells to enhance GVHD-preventive cell therapies

1:45-2:00 PM

Karsten Householder, Graduate student, Chris Garcia Lab, De novo design and structure of a peptide-centric TCR mimic binding module

2:00-2:45 PM

Session 2

2:00-2:15 PM

Tyler Prestwood, MD, PhD, Resident, PJ Utz, A novel multiplexed flow cytometry-based method for functional GPCR autoantibody discovery

2:15-2:30 PM

Laura van Dam, MD/MSc, PhD, Postdoc, Bill Robinson Lab, Characterizing ANCA-specific B cells in ANCA-associated vasculitis

2:30-2:45 PM

Jinwoo Lee, MD, PhD, Instructor, Howard Chang and PJ Utz Labs, Novel autoantibodies target hotspots on the XIST ribonucleoprotein complex in female-biased autoimmune diseases                 

2:45-3:00 PM

Flora Tierney, Graduate student, Michael Howitt Lab, Intestinal tuft cells drive commensal-specific adaptive immune responses via succinate-dependent MoDC generation  

3:00-3:15 PM

Break

3:15-4:05 PM

Session 3

3:15-3:35 PM

Anusha Kalbasi, MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology – Radiation Therapy, Natural orthogonality of IL-9 uncovers principles of JAK/STAT signaling in T cell immunotherapy

3:35-3:50 PM

Oliver Takacsi-Nagy, Graduate student, Ansu Satpathy, Evolutionarily-guided transcription factor design reprograms T cells

3:50-4:05 PM

Cort Breuer, Graduate student, Reticker-Flynn Lab, Opposing roles for type I interferon in metastasis and immunotherapy

4:05-5:05 PM

Session 4

4:05-4:20 PM

Pat Yan, Graduate student, Ansu Satpathy Lab, Genetic perturbations reprogram differentiation trajectories and plasticity of memory T cells             

4:20-4:35 PM

Chloe Kashiwagi, Graduate student, Lance Prince and Nima Aghaeepour Labs, The inflammatory profile unique to fetal and neonatal lung macrophages

4:35-4:50 PM

Kouta Niizuma, PhD, Basic Life Research Scientist, Hiromitsu Nakauchi lab, Xenophagocytosis blockade enhances interspecies chimerism

4:50-5:05 PM

Christie Chang, Graduate student, Ansu Satpathy Lab, G-baToN: in vivo cell-cell interaction labeling technology

5:05 PM

Lodging Check in at Hotel Front Desk

6:00-7:00 PM

Dinner in Monterey Ballroom

7:05-8:05 PM

Keynote: Edgar Engleman, MD, Professor of Pathology and Medicine at Stanford University, Identifying the mechanism responsible for inducing peripheral immune tolerance and manipulating it for the treatment of disease

8:05-8:30 PM

Break

8:30 PM

Game Show & Reception

Saturday, November 15

7:30-9:00 AM

Breakfast in Monterey Ballroom

9:00-9:45 AM

Session 5

9:00-9:15 AM

Jason Ross, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology - Radiation Therapy, Rejuvenating aged immunity by modulating the hematopoietic stem cell compartment

9:15-9:30 AM

Casey Beppler, PhD, Postdoc, Mark Davis Lab, Aging disrupts transcription factor-mediated maturation of CXCL13⁺ Tfh cells in human germinal centers

9:30-9:45 AM

Congcong Wang, PhD, Instructor, Katrin Andreasson Lab, Reprogramming peripheral immune compartment reverses cerebrovascular and cognitive aging        

9:45-10:00 AM

Break

10:00-10:50 AM

Session 6

10:00-10:20 AM

Purvesh Khatri, PhD, Professor of Medicine, From computational analysis to clinical practice using in silico systems analysis

10:20-10:35 AM

David Seong, Graduate student, Nima Aghaeepour Lab, Deconvolution of patient electronic health records into proteomic profiles     

10:35-10:50 AM

Shady Younis, PhD, Instructor, Bill Robinson Lab, Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen presenting cells in systemic lupus

10:50-11:05 AM

Potchara Boonrat, Graduate student, Michael Angelo Lab, Immune cell networks in tuberculosis granulomas dictate bacterial control

11:05-11:15 AM

Awards Presentation

11:15 AM-12:00 PM

CDIII Updates

12:00-12:15 PM

Group Pictures

12:15-1:00 PM

Lunch at Del Monte Golf Course

12:15-1:15 PM

Faculty Meeting in Monterey Ballroom

1:30-3:00 PM

Research Blitz with First Years and Faculty in Monterey Ballroom

3:00-5:00 PM

Pickleball Open Play at Monterey Bay Racquet Club

All levels welcomed. Bring your own paddles, or some extra paddles and balls will be available.

6:00-7:00 PM

Dinner in Monterey Ballroom

7:05-8:05 PM

Keynote: Gay Crooks, MD, Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics in the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

8:05-8:30 PM

Break

8:30-10:30 PM

Poster Session

10:30 PM-12:00 AM

Bonfire

12:00 AM

Birukova Midnight Swimming Club

Sunday, November 16

7:30-9:00 AM

Breakfast in Monterey Ballroom

9:00-9:50 AM

Session 7

9:00-9:20 AM

Glaivy Batsuli, MD, Assistant Professor - University Medical Line, Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology, The intersection of immunity and factor replacement in hemophilia treatment

9:20-9:35 AM

Saurabh Gawde, PhD, Postdoc, Tobias Lanz Lab, BTK inhibition resets pathological B and T cell subsets in patients with IgG4-related disease   

9:35-9:50 AM

Xin Chen, PhD, Postdoc, Mark Davis Lab, The Borrelia peptidoglycan drives an inflammatory monocyte phenotype and recapitulates immune features of post-treatment lyme disease

9:50-10:05 AM

Break

10:05-11:00 AM

Roundtables

"Academia vs Industry: When do I have to decide? "

Facilitators: Zinaida Good, PhD and Theo Roth, MD, PhD

"Choosing a field of study: hot and crowded, or cold and spacious?

Facilitators: Catherine Blish, MD, PhD and Holden Maecker, PhD

"Navigating NIH research funding"

Facilitators: Sean Bendall, PhD and Fadi Lakkis, MD

"Is now the time to spin out my research into a startup?

Facilitators: Mark Davis, PhD and Bill Robinson, MD, PhD

“Walking the line between biology, technology, and translation"

Facilitators: Alma Cepika, MD, PhD and Nathan Reticker-Flynn, PhD

11:00-11:15 AM

Break

11:15 AM-12:00 PM

Session 8

11:15-11:30 AM

Haibo Zhang, PhD, Postdoc, Bali Pulendran Lab, Mucosal vaccination transcends pathogen boundaries, offering broad and persistent protection against respiratory viruses, bacteria, and allergens

11:30-11:45 AM

Azam Mohsin, Graduate student, Mark Davis Lab, Co-culture of autologous organoids derived from distinct organs

11:45 AM-12:00 PM

Aaron Trotman-Grant, Graduate student, Ravi Majeti, Rational design of tumor-reprogrammed APCs by targeting composite regulatory architectures

12:00-12:15 PM

Maïgane Diop, Graduate student, Brice Gaudillière and Catherine Blish Labs, Cross tissue immunomic analysis of endometriosis

12:15-12:30 PM

General Announcements

Presenter & Title

Dwija Adamala, Undergraduate student, PJ Utz Lab, Multiplexed immune profiling to predict severity of SARS-COV-2 infection and future onset of long covid

Rizwan Ahmed, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, PJ Utz Lab, Mapping autoreactive B and T cell responses to thyroid antigens in autoimmune thyroid disease

Pedro Ambriz, Life Science Research Professional, PJ Utz and Jinwoo Lee Labs, Imaging of XIST dynamics in immune cells using stem-loop-binding reporter

Maya Arce, PhD, Arc Institute Science Fellow, Defining and dissecting the multi-protein regulators that govern T cell function

Florian Bach, PhD, Postdoc, Pras Jagannathan Lab, Learning malaria immunology from clinical trials           

Trisha Barnard, PhD, Postdoc, Catherine Blish Lab, Time-resolved single-cell analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Alison Barrett, PhD, Postdoc, Tobias Lanz Lab, Toward the pathological and structural analysis of myelin proteolipid protein reactivity in multiple sclerosis

Keshav Bhatnagar, Life Science Research Professional, Derick Okwan Lab, Mitochondria transfer from immune cells to tumor cells enables lymph node metastasis

Christie Chang, Graduate student, Ansu Satpathy Lab, G-baToN: in vivo cell-cell interaction labeling technology

Huong Chau, PhD, Postdoc, Glaivy Batsuli Lab, Immune and Transcriptional Profiles of Dendritic Cell Subsets in Hemophilia B Antibody Development

Yik Ling Bowie Cheng, PhD, Postdoc, Taia Wang Lab, Pharmacologic engineering of FcγRIIIa glycosylation improves the force durability of IgG-FcγRIIIa interactions and the therapeutic efficacy of anti-tumor mAbs

David Kung-Chun Chiu, PhD, Basic Life Research Scientist, Ed Engleman Lab, Erythropoietin receptor acts as an immunosuppressive switch in cancer immunity: From liver cancer to liver metastasis

Rebekah Costello, Graduate student, Peter Kim Lab, Engineering pan-Ebola virus vaccine candidates via hyperglycosylation of the Sudan virus glycoprotein

Noah Cruz, Health Equity Education (HEE) Postbaccalaureate student, Catherine Blish Lab, Functional profiling of NK cell receptors during acute Zika virus infection

Diane Cruz-Manjarrez, Life Science Research Professional, Crystal Mackall Lab, Engineering c-Jun–enhanced CAR T cells recognizing human and mouse B7H3 to improve anti-tumor immunity in osteosarcoma

Caroline Duncombe, PhD, Postdoc, Purvesh Khatri Lab, Multi-cohort analysis of host immune response identifies conserved protective and detrimental modules associated with malaria severity

Veronica Duran, PhD, Postdoc, Shirit Einav Lab, Age-dependent immune landscapes in dengue infection and disease progression

Alexander Eapen, Life Science Research Professional 1, Zinaida Good and Theodore Roth Labs, Universal T cell therapy screening library in preclinical models of CAR T cell therapy

Tyson Holmes, PhD, Statistical Director, Human Immune Monitoring Center, Holden Maecker Lab, Batch artifact correction for incomplete batches

Alexxandra Hurtado, Medical Student (HBMC-Stanford Program), Amanda Kirane Lab, Spatial immune profiling of advanced melanoma pre- and post-checkpoint blockade therapy

Andreas Kerschbaumer, MD, PhD, Postdoc, Purvesh Khatri and Bill Robinson Labs, Quantifying immune dysregulation in rheumatoid arthritis - a multi-cohort whole-blood transcriptomic meta-analysis

Dongeon Kim, PhD, Instructor, Mark Nicolls Lab, BMPR2 deficiency-induced Treg dysregulation contributes to pulmonary arterial hypertension

Mengjie Kong, PhD, Postdoc, Glaivy Batsuli Lab, Defining the primary immune cell in the immune response to coagulation factor VIII

Woo Joo Kwon, MSc, Life Science Research Professional, and Tyler Prestwood, MD, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, PJ Utz Lab, Testing Reactivity of Autoantibodies by Cell-based Expression of GPCRs (TRACE-GPCRs)

Wanlu Liu, PhD, Visiting Scholar, Mark Davis Lab, A pan-disease and population-level single-cell TCRαβ repertoire reference

Aarti Malhotra, Life Science Research Professional 1, Crystal Mackall Lab, Investigating the origins and identity of FOXP3 or Helios-expressing CAR T cells in different CAR T cell manufacturing conditions

Alana McSween, Graduate student, Christoph Thaiss Lab, Mechanisms of sickness-induced sleep

Artem Mikelov, PhD, Postdoc, Scott Boyd Lab, Convergent Features and cross-reactivity patterns in human memory B-cell repertoires against seasonal and avian influenza strains

Salvinaz Moutusy, MD, Postdoc, Bill Robinson Lab, Characterizing dysregulated T cell responses in multiple system atrophy

Clara Poupault, MSTP Graduate student in Cancer Biology, Julien Sage Lab, Interferon gamma treatment to reprogram the SCLC tumor microenvironment and enhance immunotherapy response

Boi Quach, Life Science Research Professional 2, Zinaida Good Lab, A cell-based model of Treg-mediated immunosuppression for CAR T therapy design

Sajede (Sasha) Rasouli, MSc, Life Science Research Professional 2, Bill Robinson Lab, Reliable detection of EBV-infected B cells in systemic lupus erythematosus using a Flow-FISH approach

Neetu Saini, PhD, Postdoc, Rosa Bacchetta Lab, Engineered regulatory T cell-like cells support epithelial integrity through stem cell support and barrier function

Valeriia Skatova, Research Intern, Scott Boyd Lab, Age-related BCR heavy chain repertoire changes in young and older adults tracked for a decade         

Zhouqi Tang, PhD, Postdoc, Fadi Lakkis Lab, Immunological studies of uterus transplantation in the mouse

Aaron Trotman-Grant, Graduate student, Ravi Majeti, Rational design of tumor-reprogrammed APCs by targeting composite regulatory architectures

Kristin Tsui, MS, Life Science Research Professional 1, Zinaida Good Lab, Rational CAR T cell design via attention-based multiple instance learning of infusion product scRNA-seq data

Xariana Vales Torres, Graduate student, Catherine Blish Lab, Inducing an antiviral state in epithelial cells to protect against Influenza A Virus (IAV) infection

Emma Wagner, PhD, Postdoc, Amanda Kirane Lab, FuncO:TiME: a multi-modal spatial platform to define functional checkpoint biomarkers of oncolytic virus response in melanoma        

Oliver Wirz, PhD, Postdoc, Scott Boyd Lab, Dissecting human B cell memory in blood and tissues using large antigen panels

George Wythes, Graduate student, Nathan Reticker-Flynn Lab, Disrupting Treg-DC interactions in tumor-draining lymph nodes

Jeehyun Yoe, PhD, Postdoc, Livnat Jerby Lab, High content CRISPR screens reveal novel regulators of the cancer-NK interplay