Email: jrl7n@virginia.edu

John grew up in the Philadelphia area. For college, John attended the University of Richmond, where he pursued organic chemistry research in the laboratory of Dr. John Gupton. During his time in the Gupton lab, John contributed to the synthesis of a pyrrole-based bioactive marine natural product. John performed his thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Young Hahn at the University of Virginia. In the Hahn lab, John was interested in uncovering the tolerogenic pathways that contribute to impairment of T cell responses in the liver. His studies revealed that PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitory signaling and antigen recognition in the context of the liver are major inducers of CD8+ T cell dysfunction. For his postdoctoral training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, John studied the molecular pathways that control IL-1 production in the laboratory of Dr. Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti. His research was primarily focused on: (1) investigating how inflammasome-dependent and –independent IL-1 production contributes to autoinflammatory disease; (2) exploring how crosstalk between the microbiome and IL-1-mediated inflammatory responses influence disease; and (3) elucidating how aberrant IL-1 production and NLR signaling contributes to neuroinflammatory disease development. In Fall 2014, John returned to Charlottesville to start his lab in the Department of Neuroscience and the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). Outside of the lab, John enjoys skiing, going on runs with his dog, playing and watching soccer, following Philadelphia sports, listening to music, and spending time with his wife and two sons.