Crystal Springs provided a beautiful autumnal backdrop along with excellent amenities and ample space for over 250 students, post-docs, and faculty to listen to a spectrum of excellent talks, engage in lively discussions, and connect with future collaborators. 

A strength of the IMP community is the multi-institutional network, and each year this program-wide retreat provides a platform for scientists from Weill Cornell, Cornell Ithaca, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Hospital for Special Surgery to present their work. This year’s retreat proved to be another jam-packed session of fascinating talks, ranging from regulation of immune responses epigenetically, metabolically, and clinically; delving into immune cell subsets including ILCs, NK cells, and phagocytes; examining a multitude of inflammatory and pathogen-driven diseases such as IBD, SLE, Mtb, and Sars-CoV2. There was no shortage of thought-provoking data and stimulating audience Q&A discussions.

During the afternoon, IMP members took a break from science and connected outdoors through a variety of activities including hiking, swimming, soccer, and lawn games! With a refreshed mindset, IMP reconvened for the evening session which commenced with our honored keynote speaker, Dr. Sara Cherry from University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cherry took us through a series of vignettes that showcased exciting work in her lab investigating the biology of emerging RNA viruses, understanding the innate immune response to these viruses, and identifying effective antivirals through cell-based drug screens. Afterwards, an energetic “blitz”-style poster presentation took place of the traditional 3-Minute-Thesis, during which trainees gave rapid-fire and humorous 1-minute overviews of their project to advertise their poster in the following session. In the poster session, all trainees presented their work through small-group discussions while being evaluated by faculty scorers. The lively poster session then paved the way for the social activities for the night, leading into dinner, karaoke, and dancing.

The animated evening was a great reminder of the fun-filled, close-knit community IMP has created. The next morning, the retreat closed out with more brilliant talks followed by awards based on student and faculty votes. Brooke Fiedler won the Student Speaker Award and Simon Grassmann secured the Post-Doc Speaker Award. Our three Poster Blitz presenters, Ian McBain, Alex McGurk, and Serena Teh, all received an award for braving the newer format, making us all laugh with their speedy presentations. Finally, the Student Poster Session award was a tie between Kathleen Mills and Mariano Aufiero while the Post-Doc Poster Session winner was Sofia Tortora. We returned home tired and inspired, and are already looking forward to next year’s retreat!

Organizing committee: Faculty Gretchen Diehl, Inez Rogatsky, Brad Jones; Students Amanda Chen, Baila Solkosky, Ian Mantel; IMP Coordinator Thelma Lopez.

Nestled among the autumnal foliage at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains, Crystal Springs Resort provided the amenities and ample space for over 230 students, post-docs, and faculty to listen to a spectrum of excellent talks, engage in lively discussions, and connect with future collaborators. 

A strength of the IMP community is the multi-institutional network, and this program-wide retreat provided a platform for scientists from Weill Cornell, Cornell Ithaca, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Hospital for Special Surgery to present their work and get a sense of the breadth and depth of the research being conducted across these campuses. This year proved to be another jam-packed session of fascinating talks, ranging from regulation of immune responses epigenetically, spatiotemporally, and clinically; delving into all immune cells including pDCs, ILCs, phagocytes, and NK cells; examining a multitude of inflammatory and pathogen-driven diseases such as IBD, SLE, HIV, and malaria. There was no shortage of thought-provoking data and stimulating audience Q&A discussions.

During the afternoon break, IMP members enjoyed connecting outside of science through a variety of activities including hiking, swimming, soccer, farm animal visits, giant Jenga, and more! With a refreshed mindset, IMP reconvened for the evening session which commenced with the keynote speaker, our very own Dr. Sabine Ehrt! She captured us with 3 different stories, each focusing on a different aspect of M. tuberculosis genetics that has the potential to treat or prevent this globally infectious disease. Afterwards, an energetic “blitz”-style poster presentation took place of the traditional 3-Minute-Thesis, during which trainees gave rapid-fire and humorous 1-minute overviews of their project to advertise their poster in the following session. 

The lively poster session paved the way for the social activities for the night, leading into dinner and dancing. This year brought back the traditional 1st-year student karaoke round, which then inspired other cohorts and labs to partake. The animated evening was a great reminder of what a wonderful, close-knit community IMP has created. The next morning, the retreat closed out with more brilliant talks followed by awards based on student and faculty votes. We returned home tired and inspired, and are already looking forward to next year’s retreat!

Applying bacterial genetics to understand, treat and prevent tuberculosis
Sabine Ehrt, PhD
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Co-Chair of the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Graduate Program

Joseph Gladstone, Sonnenberg Lab
Amanda Chen, Diehl Lab
Shireen Khyat, Glickman Lab
Adriana Mujal, Sun Lab
Simon Grassman, Sun Lab
Katherine Sanidad, Zeng Lab
Tiago Zilch, Fowell Lab
Noemi Linden, Jones Lab
Oluwafemi Francis Adu, Parrish Lab
Greana Kirubakar, Russel Lab
Anthony Michaels, Rudensky lab
Louise Leyre, Jones Lab
Benjamin Winer, Huse Lab
Rebecca Delconte, Sun Lab

This occasion was particularly significant, as it marked the first off-campus retreat since the COVID-19 shutdown. All members were enthusiastic to reunite and exchange ideas in person. Additionally, the IMP retreat afforded attendees the opportunity to unwind against the picturesque backdrop of the Mohonk Mountain House in Upstate New York.

As always, the retreat featured a diverse range of scientific presentations covering the extensive scope of research conducted by IMP labs. The event also fostered a welcoming environment for first-year students to acquaint themselves with the wide array of ongoing research within IMP laboratories. One of the key strengths of the IMP program is its multi-institutional organization, which was reflected in the diverse representation of labs from Weill Cornell, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Cornell Ithaca at the retreat.

The retreat boasted an exceptional lineup of speakers, including student, faculty, and postdoctoral researchers. A special emphasis was placed on providing a platform for student speakers to showcase their research, and this year's roster featured Kathleen Mills, Thaís Klevorn, Kibaek Choe, Miguel de Jesus, Andrew Daman, Keith Fernandez, Zhongmin Wang, and Abhinav Jaiswal, whose presentations spanned topics such as three-photon imaging of B and T cell responses to multidrug resistance mechanisms of M. Tuberculosis.

Additionally, the annual IMP retreat served as a platform to introduce new faculty recruits, Drs. Alexander Gitlin, Laura Donlin, and Nicholas Collins, who provided insight into their research backgrounds and summarized the goals for their new labs. The keynote speaker, Dr. Richard Locksley, gave a captivating presentation on innate immune responses to allergens in the intestine, highlighting exciting unpublished findings.

We can’t wait for next year’s retreat!

Innate Allergy
Richard M. Locksley, MD
Marion and Herbert Sandler Distinguished Professorship in Asthma
Research, UCSF

Dugan Ahimovic, Steve Josefowicz lab

Viviana Maymi, Brian Rudd lab (Cornell Ithaca)

Kathleen Mills, Tobias Hohl lab

Andrew Daman, Steve Josefowicz lab

Noemi Linden, Brad Jones lab

Vidyanath Chaudhary, Barrat Lab

With more than 200 attendees, this retreat was filled with outstanding presentations, long overdue in-person scientific interactions, and an outstanding outdoor terrace reception with a live Jazz Quartet. As always, the science presented at the retreat, both during the talks and at the poster session, really highlighted the breadth and depth of work covered by labs in the IMP program, allowing the first years to get a sense of all the labs in the program.  

This year, we heard about a wide range of topics from new faculty members Drs. Gretchen Diehl and Sallie Permar, that included microbiota-regulation of immunity and early life immunization. Our students, Maeva Metz, Benji Grigg and Christopher Bourne, presented research on host-microbiota interactions, innate lymphoid cells, and adoptive T cell micropharmacies. Our poster sessions were outstanding and highly attended, and a highlight including a new Three Minute Research Review Competition between IMP Students and IMP Faculty Members. 

We were lucky to have two outstanding Keynote Speakers. Dr. Susan Schwab, of NYU Langone Health, who opened our retreat with a lecture on S1P and T cell function. Dr. Miriam Merad closed our retreat presentations with a presentation on myeloid cells in health and disease. Afterwards, everyone wound down at an evening reception on the Belfer Terrace that was highlighted with a live Jazz Quartet. This year was exceptionally special, as it marks a return to in-person retreats and the first one organized by co-chairs Drs. Andrea Schietinger and Greg Sonnenberg. Stay tuned for the next update!

Ludwig Center Keynote Address: Secrets and Lyase: S1P and T cell function
Susan R. Schwab, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology
NYU Langone Health

Jill Roberts Institute Keynote Address: Myeloid cell contribution to health and disease
Miriam Merad, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of the Precision Immunology Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Endi Santosa, Joseph Sun

Benjamin Grigg, Gregory Sonnenberg 

Regina bou Puerto, Alexander Rudensky

With more than 230 attendees, this Halloween special retreat was filled with apple cider muffins, a luxurious buffet breakfast, and our own homebrewed “spectral overlap” stout.  This year also featured our first ever poster blitz, where 8 students shared the highlights of their research. As always, the science presented at the retreat, both during the talks and at the poster session, really highlighted the breadth and depth of work covered by labs in the IMP program, allowing the first years to get a sense of all of the labs in the program.  

This year, we heard about a wide range of topics from new faculty members Justin Perry and Melody Zeng, ranging from apoptotic cell clearance to fetal-microbiota immune crosstalk. Our students Sarah Schrader, Andrew Scott, Priyanka Chowdhury, and Oyindamola Adefisayo, presented their research on Tuberculosis persistence and DNA damage repair, T cell dysfunction, and B cell class switching.  Our Keynote speaker this year was Marc Jenkins, who gave an impressive talk on the surprising features of naïve T helper cells. Afterwards, everyone wound down at the karaoke bar, where we heard a rendition of Britney Spears’ toxic performed by some of our students and faculty, among others. 

This year was exceptionally special, as we celebrated and thanked Dr. Joseph Sun for his role as chair of the retreat planning committee for the past seven years.  We are looking forward to the 2020 retreat, where we will welcome Dr. Greg Sonnenberg and Dr. Andrea Schietinger as co-chairs of the retreat committee. Stay tuned for the next update!

Surprising features of the naiive helper T cell repertoire
Marc Jenkins, PhD
Professor, University of Minnesota Medical School

Colleen M. Lau, Sun Lab

Saskia Hemmers, Rudensky Lab

Andrew Scott, Schietinger Lab

Elisa Sanchez, Huse Lab

Sanda Mimouna, Rogatsky Lab

Miguel De Jesus, Huse Lab

Cybelle Tabilas, Rudd Lab

Benji John Grigg, Sonnenberg Lab

Maeva Metz, Longman Lab

With clear blue skies and cool, crisp fall air, the weather was perfect for hiking up the mountain during free time (via either the carriage road or, for the brave, the rock scramble path). Given that the fall foliage was a little late this year, the view from the top was a bit greener than past years, but beautiful nonetheless. As always, the science presented at the retreat, both during the talks and at the poster session, really highlighted the breadth and depth of work covered by labs in the IMP program, allowing the first years (our biggest class yet!) to get a sense of all of the labs in the program. 

The talks by students, post-docs and faculty covered a range of topics, from tuberculosis to HIV to the microbiota to the role of the immune system in GVHD, autoimmunity and anti-viral responses. Our speaker lineup included two new faculty members at Weill Cornell, Dr. CJ Guo and Dr. Brad Jones. We also heard great talks from some current IMP students, including Meredith Whitaker, who chaired the Retreat Planning Committee in 2016, and Melissa Docampo, who has chaired both the 2017 and 2018 retreat committees. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Lalita Ramakrishnan from the University of Cambridge, who gave a fascinating talk on her work studying tuberculosis in zebrafish models. 

Some additional highlights included after-dinner entertainment that began with a competitive game of trivia followed by karaoke, both of which had great participation by students, postdocs and even faculty. We also premiered a career panel at the end of the second day of talks, where we had a great discussion with recent faculty members about their transition from post-doc to PI, and this was accompanied by lunch and a keg of beer from the Fifth Hammer Brewery in NYC. Finally (and most importantly), the retreat SWAG was a cozy IMP fleece, which was perfect for keeping warm in the fall weather, and chances are you will spot it on IMP researchers around campus for the foreseeable future.

The Zebrafish Guide to Tuberculosis Pathogenesis
Lalita Ramakrishnan, PhD
Professor, University of Cambridge

Clair Geary, Sun Lab

Irina Leonardi, Iliev Lab

Julien Moretti, Blander Lab

Gaetan Barbet, Blander Lab 

Colleen Lau, Sun Lab

Clarissa Campbell, Rudensky Lab

Stas Dikiy, Rudensky Lab 

Andrew Scott, Schietinger Lab