Dr. Gregory F. Sonnenberg. Credit: René Perez
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.
The STAR program recognizes immunologists who are conducting high-risk, high-reward research in tumor immunology. Dr. Sonnenberg is one of five scientists to receive the honor following an international competition. As a recipient, he will receive a $1.25 million, five-year grant, to explore disruptive and uncommon cancer research paths. The CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Award was named after the Cancer Research Institute’s founding medical and scientific director Lloyd J. Old, who was known as the “father of modern tumor immunology.”
“This is an incredible grant from a scientist’s standpoint,” Dr. Sonnenberg said. “Traditionally, this level of funding only comes from the National Institutes of Health. The Cancer Research Institute is really trusting us to take risks and make rapid scientific advances.”
Dr. Sonnenberg’s lab focuses on the immune system and its interaction with the body’s gut microbiome, which comprises trillions of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract. With this grant, he plans to examine the relationship between the immune system, microbiome and cancer. To read more, click here.