By Merin C. MacDonald
In this month’s Chair’s Spotlight, we highlight the work of Fiachra Humphries, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Innate Immunity in the Department of Medicine and faculty in the Program in Innate Immunity.
Dr. Humphries joined the Division of Innate Immunity in March 2022, after having performed post-doctoral research under the mentorship of Dr. Kate Fitzgerald. He earned his B.Sc. in Biotechnology and Ph.D. in Immunology, both from Maynooth University in Ireland, where he also performed post-doctoral research under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Moynagh.
Dr. Humphries’ research focuses on how post-translational modifications regulate innate immune signaling and the progression of inflammatory disease. His aims are to identify new paradigms in diagnosing and treating human disease through a deeper understanding of how post-translational modifications of proteins by metabolites impact cell signaling and the progression of inflammatory diseases, neurodegeneration, and cancer.
Dr. Humphries was recently awarded the Child Health Award from the Charles H. Hood Foundation to study “The role of MARCO in pediatric cancer.” MARCO is a scavenger receptor expressed on tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumor microenvironment. TAMs can promote tumor growth and metastases. The study will focus on understanding how our innate immune system can control expression of MARCO on TAMs and how we can leverage these signaling events to treat child cancers.
“[I’m] very grateful to the Charles H. Hood foundation for funding our study and giving us the opportunity to study an exciting new area of research in my lab”, said Dr. Humphries.
We are thrilled that Dr. Humphries was selected as one of the recipients of this highly competitive award. What a great way to hit the ground running! Congratulations!