Insights from the touchIMMUNOLOGY Future Leaders 2025
As the field of immunology continues to evolve, staying ahead of the curve has never been more critical. From autoimmunity and inflammation to vaccines and immuno-oncology, recent research highlights how quickly fundamental immune insights are being translated into real-world clinical impact.
As we welcome the new year, we asked our touchIMMUNOLOGY 2025 Future Leaders to share the developments they believe will shape the future of the field. Here, they highlight five emerging areas poised to influence clinical practice—not only in the year ahead, but for years to come.
“The next major breakthrough will likely stem from biomarker-guided treatment strategies in which immune profiling directs the choice and timing of targeted therapies. This will introduce true precision medicine to the field of rheumatology.”
Dr Sonali Bracken
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
“Looking ahead, I believe we are on the verge of a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize humans—not solely as individual organisms, but rather as ecological “niches” shaped by their symbiotic relationships with the microbiome and influenced by both the immediate and wider environment. This systems-level understanding could transform how we approach prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in medicine.”
Dr Varol Tunali
Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
“The next major breakthrough in rheumatology is expected to be the development of curative genetic and cell-based therapies, such as the widespread use of CAR-T cell therapy for autoimmune diseases.”
Dr Santhanam Sham
Kauvery Hospitals, Chennai, India
“I anticipate that the next major breakthrough in paediatric gastroenterology will come from non-invasive, real-time monitoring technologies combined with biologically-informed treat-to-target frameworks. These tools will allow us to detect molecular remission earlier, personalize biologic therapy more effectively, and ultimately prevent the progression of chronic gastrointestinal diseases from childhood into adulthood.”
Dr Salvatore Oliva
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
“With the culminating evidence on the importance of the neuro-immune axis in disease models and especially in cancer, we may soon hear about some translational advancements in the realm of cancer biology and potentially targeting strategies exploiting the dynamic cross-over between the nervous system and the immune system. This is in light of recent exciting discoveries about the role of neurons in mediating metastatic dissemination of cancer and how cancer-induced nerve injury confers resistance to checkpoint therapy.”
Dr Hassan M. Abushukair
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Opening soon!
Nominations for touchIMMUNOLOGY Future Leaders 2026
We are excited to announce that nominations for the touchIMMUNOLOGY Future Leaders 2026 will open soon, and we invite the community to share their suggestions for exceptional individuals who are shaping the future of the field through innovation and excellence in patient care.
Register below to hear about nominations as soon as they open!
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