The Road Ahead
As 2025 draws to a close, I want to warmly wish everyone a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year. This past year presented many challenges to academic medicine and biomedical sciences in the United States. Changes in federal research funding policies had a significant impact on our department and the School of Medicine, leading to a pause in faculty recruitment and some reorganization of administrative support. Fortunately, thanks to all of your hard work, we’re now recovering from these early setbacks and planning carefully for the road ahead. Even though it sometimes felt like there wasn’t much to celebrate, looking back at 2025 reveals many reasons to find joy and pride in our accomplishments.
Research Achievements & Discoveries
Our faculty continues to lead strong research programs supported by nearly $10 million from federal agencies, industry, and foundations. In 2025, IIB investigators, including staff and trainees, published groundbreaking papers in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, Immunity, Science Immunology, Nature Immunology, and Cell Host and Microbe, among others.
Awards and Recognition
IIB faculty members Micah Luftig, Daniel Saban, and Stefanie Sarantopoulos were awarded distinguished professorships for their exemplary scholarship in advancing science and enhancing human health.
Georgia Tomaras received the School of Medicine Research Mentoring Award, recognizing excellence in mentoring across clinical, translational, population health, and basic sciences.
Diana Dou was named a Whitehead Scholar, a program supporting promising biomedical researchers with exceptional research and training potential.
Several of our faculty members received national and international recognition. Staci Bilbo was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, while Jorn Coers and Mari Shinohara were elected to the American Academy of Microbiology. Additionally, Jose Conejo-Garcia received the Vanguard Award from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) for his outstanding contributions, and Ashley Moseman was selected as a Burroughs Wellcome Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases, a highly competitive award for early-career faculty.
Career Transitions
This year, You Wen He retired from the Duke faculty after an esteemed 25 year career in the Department of Immunology. He made essential contributions to T-cell biology, most notably discovering co-inhibitory receptors, which transformed the field’s understanding of T-cell activation, tolerance, and effector functions. His research also revealed key principles of Treg stability, distinctions between pathogenic and non-pathogenic Th17 cell states, and the signaling and autophagic pathways that impact T-cell homeostasis and memory development.
Community
In September, we had the opportunity to gather for our annual retreat at Wrightsville Beach to share some of the exceptional science being performed in IIB labs and to strengthen our community further.
We also had two alumni from our program visit to give seminars: Jennifer Brogdon, PhD, Head of Cell and Gene Therapies in the Immuno-Oncology and Hematology Department at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, and Marco L. Davila, MD, PhD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. It was inspiring to see the broader impact that Duke Immunology graduates are having in immuno-oncology.
Training the Next Generation
Dilshan (Rakitha) Malewana
IIB graduate students and postdoctoral trainees continue to be the driving force of our department. In 2025, we welcomed four new graduate students to our Immunology Training Program: Dan Floyd, Grace Grinder, Sommer Holmes, and Linh Nguyen. Also this year, seven students earned their PhDs: Bryan Lim, Sejiro Littleton, Estefany Reyes, Dilshan (Rakitha) Malewana, Daniel Schuster, Skye Tracey, and M. Olivia Balmert.
New Faculty Affiliate
We are also pleased to welcome Ru-Rong Ji, William Maixner Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of the Center for Translational Pain Medicine, to the IIB faculty. Dr. Ji is an accomplished researcher in the molecular and cellular mechanisms that cause and alleviate pathological pain, as well as the roles of innate immune sensors and inflammation in neuroimmune interactions in chronic pain.
A Final Word of Thanks
Chair, Department of Integrative Immunobiology
I expect 2026 to bring more surprises and challenges. However, I believe we will rise to meet them, continue to progress, and find new opportunities to fund our work. I am grateful to be part of such a dedicated and resourceful team that stays focused on our shared goal of understanding and leveraging the immune system to improve human health. Together, you all make this a fantastic department and the possibilities are endless!
Please follow us on LinkedIn for the latest news on departmental activities and to update us on what you have been up to, as we would love to strengthen the connection between current and past department members and friends of IIB. Please also consider supporting our graduate students during these uncertain times.