Immunology Center of Georgia

09/18/2026

Recently, Klaus Ley, MD, sat down with Cynthia St. Hilaire, PhD, FAHA, for an episode of the Discover CircRes Podcast, a monthly podcast produced by the American Heart Association.

In the interview, Dr. Ley talks about a recent study, "Increased Autoreactive CD8+ T Cells to Apolipoprotein B Epitopes in Patients with Severe Coronary Artery Disease," published earlier this month in "Circulation Research." The study was led by Payel Roy, PhD, formerly a postdoctoral fellow and assistant research assistant in Dr. Ley’s lab before becoming an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India, as well as Smriti Parashar, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Ley Lab.

You can listen to the full episode a number of different ways:
🎙️ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kSvWvbU9VQiTeNQWAR8gH?si=HvtwkRscTA-jdJ03PTvxkg

🍎 Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/discover-circres-september-2026/id1468175423?i=1000790391445

❤️ AHA Website - https://www.ahajournals.org/do/10.1161/podcast.20260916.688152/full/

New episode of Circulation Research’s podcast Discover CircRes is out, and you can listen here: https://linkly.link/2tapA Dr. Cindy St. Hilaire chats with Dr. Klaus Ley about their study, “Increased Autoreactive CD8+ T Cells to Apolipoprotein B Epitopes in Patients with Severe Coronary Artery Disease” https://bit.ly/4gT2TPB

Article highlights in this episode include:
1) Article highlights include: Methylmalonate Overload Despite Glycemic Control Drives Diabetic Heart Damage by Wang et al https://bit.ly/4AhqNNM
2) Tertiary Lymphoid Structures and CXCL13 as Targets in Intracranial Aneurysm by Zheng et al https://bit.ly/4dl9gtV

3) Mast Cell St8sia1 Is a Glyco-Epigenetic Checkpoint Driving Cardiac Remodeling by Zhou et al https://bit.ly/3UZ8wEA

4) Natural ERRα Activator Formononetin Ameliorates Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity via Metabolic Improvement by Wang et al https://bit.ly/4gQ6f5W

09/17/2026

Will you be at next week? Our center will be well represented with oral presentations by Catherine "Lynn" Hedrick, PhD, Yanfang "Peipei" Zhu, PhD, and Klaus Ley, MD, as well as poster presentations by Austin Lowery and Gabriel Valentín Guillama, PhD.

09/17/2026

Congratulations to Klaus Ley, MD, on his appointment to the The American Association of Immunologists - AAI Sustainable Scientific Enterprise Task Force!

The task force was created to examine challenges facing today’s research community, including increasing peer-review demands and publication delays that can impact researchers’ time, funding and resources.

Read the full story in the comments.

09/16/2026

New research featuring Klaus Ley, MD, founding co-director of the Immunology Center of Georgia
at the Medical College of Georgia, provides evidence that atherosclerosis should be classified as an autoimmune disease. Published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, the international study identified key similarities between atherosclerosis and established autoimmune diseases, offering new insights into how the immune system contributes to plaque buildup in the arteries and potential new approaches to treatment.

09/16/2026

Megh Mehta, a graduate research assistant in the Ley Lab working under the guidance of Klaus Ley, MD, recently shared an update on his research during a Trainee Research in Progress presentation.

09/15/2026

At the end of August, two of our trainees, Aderonke Fakayode and Timothy Olusegun, represented the Immunology Center of Georgia and The Graduate School at Augusta University at the 2026 Georgia Life Sciences Summit in Atlanta.

The annual event brought together more than 400 leaders from biotechnology, medical technology, research, manufacturing, investment, and healthcare to discuss the future of life sciences innovation in Georgia. We are proud to see our trainees engaging with experts from across academia and industry while expanding their professional networks and exploring new opportunities in science and innovation.

Afterwards, Aderonke shared this:
"Attending the 25th Annual Georgia Life Sciences Summit was an enriching experience. As a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences specializing in immunology, I appreciated the opportunity to connect with professionals across academia and industry. The experience broadened my understanding of career opportunities in the life sciences and reinforced the importance of collaboration among researchers, biotechnology companies, healthcare professionals, and investors. I returned with valuable knowledge, new connections, and a greater appreciation for Georgia’s role in advancing life sciences innovation."

09/14/2026

Who says cancer research fundraising can't be fun?

Last Friday, Klaus Ley, MD, founding co-director of IMMCG, volunteered for the dunk tank at Paceline Palooza to help raise funds for cancer research.

Faculty, staff, and trainees from IMMCG were happy to take their shot, successfully dunking him 10 times during the event!

Paceline raises funding for cancer research benefiting Augusta University and the Georgia Cancer Center. IMMCG researchers and trainees have directly benefited from these funds, helping support the next generation of scientific discovery.

A big thank-you to everyone who participated and contributed to this great cause!

09/11/2026

Could atherosclerosis be an autoimmune disease?

A new international study featuring Klaus Ley, MD, founding co-director of the Immunology Center of Georgia, suggests the answer may be yes.

Published in "Nature Cardiovascular Research," the study found important similarities between atherosclerosis and well-known autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Researchers also identified antibodies that appear to contribute directly to disease progression.

The findings could change how scientists understand and study one of the leading causes of heart disease.

Learn more about the research and its potential impact in the comments.

09/09/2026

A few weeks ago, researchers from the Immunology Center of Georgia and Georgia Cancer Center came together to meet with students from The Graduate School at Augusta University interested in exploring the Molecular Oncology and Immunology PhD program.

As these students prepare to choose their disciplines and research labs, it's important that they have opportunities to connect with faculty researchers, learn about different areas of research, and find mentors whose work aligns with their interests. Events like these help build those connections and provide a stronger foundation for their future success.

We're excited to potentially continue working with these students as they progress through their studies and explore careers in immunology and cancer research.