We were pleased to return to an in-person IMP Retreat, held on campus at Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in October 2021.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!
Keynotes
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
IMP Awardees
Endi Santosa, Joseph Sun Lab
Benjamin Grigg, Gregory Sonnenberg
Regina bou Puerto, Alexander Rudensky