Dr. Hemann has been awarded an NIAID K22 career transition award

Influenza virus infection causes significant illness and death globally each year despite the existence of a vaccine. Our work has sought to understand the innate immune determinates that are able to regulate the induction of protective adaptive immune responses against influenza in order to inform novel therapeutic and adjuvant strategies. We recently published a study revealing that the innate immune cytokine IFN-lambda acts on DC and is required for generation of optimal CD8 T cell-mediated protection against influenza virus infection in a murine model (DOI:10.1038/s41590-019-0408-z). Dr. Hemann has been awarded an NIAID K22 career transition award to continue to investigate the mechanisms by which IFN-lambda regulates dendritic cell function and programming of memory responses during influenza virus infection and vaccination.