Lowance Center Members

Ignacio Sanz, MD
Director, Lowance Center for Human Immunology
A board-certified practicing rheumatologist with major emphasis on SLE, Dr. Sanz was Chief of the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at the University of Rochester since 1996 until his move to Emory in April of 2012 as the Mason I. Lowance Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Division Director of the Division of Rheumatology, Director of the Lowance Center for Human Immunology and Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Scholar in Human Immunology.

Initially trained in Molecular Immunology in the laboratory of Dr. Capra at Southwestern Medical School, Dr. Sanz has extensive expertise in the study of human autoantibodies and B-cells. He has performed pioneering studies of B-cell depletion in human SLE. In the process, his lab has developed great expertise in the multi-chromatic FCM analysis of human B-cells, generation of monoclonal antibodies from single cells, and, more recently, next-generation sequencing.

For more than a decade, Dr. Sanz has been the director of one of only 8 NIH-funded Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence in the nation as well as the Director of the University of Rochester Program for Biodefense of Immunocompromised Populations from 2006-2011. He is also the principal investigator of a large multi-institutional program project investigating B cells in health and disease. He was the director of the Rochester Center for Translational Immunology and Infectious Diseases from 2009 to 2012. He was a member of the NIAID Allergy and Immunology Study section and has also participated in multiple special review panels and ad-hoc reviews. He has been an invited participant in special workshops on Immunotherapy (NIAID); HIV (NIAID); and Type 1 Diabetes (NIDKK). He is also a member of the ACE and the Immune Tolerance Network Steering Committees and Chair of the ACE Mechanistic Studies Committee.

Bryon Au-Yeung, PhD
Dr. Au-Yeung’s research is focused on studying the activation of T-cell immune responses. Signaling from the T cell receptor (TCR) is the primary driver of T cell activation. TCR signaling can vary in strength and may impact T cell function. One project in the lab is studying how changes in the strength of TCR signals can influence how CD4+ helper T cells acquire different cellular functions. Other projects include studying how weaker or stronger reactivity of T cells to the body’s own “self” proteins can impact T cell function. The long-term goal of this work is to better understand how T cells promote autoimmunity and identify ways to block this process.

Eliver Ghosn, PhD
The Ghosn Lab combines high-dimensional flow cytometry and multi-OMICs single-cell sequencing technologies as a Systems Immunology approach to study the development and function of tissue-resident immune cells, including tissue-resident macrophages and B lymphocytes that develop early during embryogenesis (fetal life) and persist in tissues throughout adulthood. We use in vivo mouse models of lineage-tracing and fate-mapping, humanized mice, and patient/clinical samples to study the differences between tissue-resident versus circulating immune cells. We expect our studies, from both basic and translational research, to provide new insights into the development and function of the human immune system in infants and adults and shed light on the mechanisms that lead to organ-specific inflammatory disorders (including autoimmunity, infectious diseases, cancers, and immunodeficiencies) that predominate at different developmental ages, and inform the development of new vaccines that are targeted to either children or adults.

Scott A. Jenks, PhD
Dr. Jenks has a longing standing interest in the complexity of the immune system. His recent work has focused on understanding alternative pathways of class-switched B cell activation that are dramatically expanded and contribute to disease in autoimmune patients. He is also interested in using Vh4.34 antibodies as a model to study the maintenance of serological tolerance and how this breaks down in lupus patients.

Sung Lim, MD
Dr. Lim's main interest is the outcomes and epidemiology of systemic lupus erythematosus. He is the PI of several grants. He currently has six federally funded grants (CDC, NIH), six pharmaceutical company-sponsored clinical trials, one foundation-sponsored clinical trial, two foundation grants, one PCORI sub-award, and one academic sub-award. Lim heads the Lupus Clinic, which was established to treat patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and cutaneous lupus - chronic autoimmune disorders that disproportionately affect African Americans and younger women. As a cutting-edge leader, the clinic at Grady uses a multidisciplinary approach to medical care, education, and support groups, along with integrated research projects. Since its opening in 2002, the lupus clinic has been a resource for many epidemiologic outcomes, quality, and translational studies with national and international visibility. As a result, the Grady Lupus Clinic has led to multiple grants from federal agencies (CDC, NIH), private organizations, foundations, and pharmaceutical companies. 

Paula Ramos, PhD
Dr. Ramos is a human geneticist whose research is aimed at understanding the genetic etiology of human autoimmunity and the reasons underlying its disparities. Leveraging tools from molecular, statistical, and population genetics, genetic epidemiology, and social epigenomics, Dr. Ramos leads multidisciplinary studies that integrate genetic and social exposures to investigate the etiology of autoimmune diseases like lupus and scleroderma. Her research goals are to improve autoimmune disease outcomes in health disparity populations by identifying genetic and non-genetic, modifiable risk factors that can inform therapeutic, behavioral, and policy interventions. In addition, Dr. Ramos is actively engaged in advocacy, education, and community outreach and engagement. 

Dmitry Shayakhmetov, PhD
Dr. Shayakhmetov’s research program is focused on advancing the understanding of mechanisms of innate immunity and on developing viral-based therapeutics for treating non-small cell lung cancer and genetic diseases. After completing his postdoctoral training in adenoviral vector biology in Dr. Andre Lieber’s laboratory at the University of Washington, Dr. Shayakhmetov focused his efforts on analyzing the role of interleukin-1-alpha in initiating and propagating local and systemic inflammation in response to adenoviral vectors and M.tuberculosis (Di Palo et al, Immunity (2009); Di Paolo et al., Immunity (2014); Di Paolo et al, Nature Immunology (2016)). He also studied adenovirus interactions with blood coagulation factors that shape antiviral defense mechanisms (Kalyuzhniy et al., PNAS (2008); Doronin et al., Science (2012); Atasheva et al; Science Translational Medicine (2020)). His most recent projects involve analyzing the role of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells and IL-1-family cytokines in mounting tumor resistance to cytotoxic virotherapy and assessing the role of non-neutralizing antibodies and complement in triggering severe cytokine storm responses to gene therapy vectors. He also continues his work on engineering therapeutic adenovirus vectors for cancer therapy and in vivo gene correction in hematopoietic stem cells to treat sickle cell disease and other diseases of the blood and immune system. Dr. Shayakhmetov is a recipient of the Outstanding New Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (2008). Dr. Shayakhmetov is an editorial board member of Molecular Therapy, Genes and Immunity, and Cancer Gene Therapy journals and an associate editor and editorial board member of Microbes and Innate Immunity: Specialty section of Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Shayakhmetov’s research program has been continuously supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. Dr. Shayakhmetov is a member of several professional societies and has served on many NIH and international grant review panels, including serving as a standing member (2012-2016) and chair (2014-2016) of the Innate Immunity and Inflammation (III) study section. He is currently serving as a standing member of the Therapeutic Approaches to Genetic Diseases (TAG) study section at the NIH (2024-2028). The Shayakhmetov lab fosters a highly collaborative environment and is currently collaborating with investigators from Case Western Reserve University, Rice University, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Emory Vaccine Center, and Emory National Primate Research Center.