In October 2022, the entire IMP community convened for the program's annual retreat. 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gave a captivating presentation on innate immune responses to allergens in the intestine, highlighting exciting unpublished findings.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!
Keynote
Innate Allergy
Richard M. Locksley, MD
Marion and Herbert Sandler Distinguished Professorship in Asthma
Research, UCSF
IMP Awardees
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