Dr. Gregory Sonnenberg

 A study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators has found that immune tolerance to gut microbes depends on an ancient bacterial-sensing protein called STING—normally considered a trigger for inflammation. 

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine discovered a previously unknown link between two key pathways that regulate the immune system in mammals—a finding that impacts our understanding of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

Dr. Gregory F. Sonnenberg, The Henry R. Erle, M.D.-Roberts Family Associate Professor of Medicine and head of basic research in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded a $3.26 million, five-year MERIT grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to investigate the underlying mechanisms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

A specific toxin-producing gut bacteria may be responsible for both triggering the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) and ongoing disease activity.

Two Weill Cornell Medicine faculty members, Dr. Gregory Sonnenberg and Dr. Melody Zeng, are recipients of prestigious awards from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) for their accomplishments in the field of immunology.

Immune cells called group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) play an essential role in establishing tolerance to symbiotic microbes that dwell in the human gastrointestinal tract, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.

A protein called Zbtb46, expressed by specialized immune cells, has a major role in protecting the gastrointestinal tract from excessive inflammation, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.

A growth factor protein produced by rare immune cells in the intestine can protect against the effects of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new discovery from Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

A group of immune cells that normally protect against inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract may have the opposite effect in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other brain inflammation-related conditions, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers.

An immune cell subset called innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) protects against colorectal cancer, in part by helping to maintain a healthy dialogue between the immune system and gut microbes, according to a new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

Awards, honors, prizes and achievements for the month of October.

An iron-regulating molecule called hepcidin is produced by the immune system and restricts the growth of gut bacteria after an intestinal injury, helping to heal the lining of the intestine, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and Institut Cochin investigators.

Dr. Gregory F. Sonnenberg, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology in medicine in the Weill Department of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and a member of the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been named an awardee for the inaugural CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR (Scientists Taking Risks) Program by the Cancer Research Institute.

Production of an essential protein for maintaining a healthy immune response in the intestine called interleukin-2 (IL-2) depends on immune cells known as innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

Dr. Gregory Sonnenberg, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has received the newly established Young Investigator Award from the Society for Mucosal Immunology.