Jenny Gumperz

Jenny Gumperz is a Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health. She leads an active research laboratory focused on human innate T lymphocytes, particularly invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells, Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells, and γδ T cells, with the goal of developing novel cellular immunotherapies.

Education:

• B.A., University of California at Santa Cruz (1986)
• Ph.D., Stanford University (1996)
• Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School (1996–1999)

Her research explores how innate T cells contribute to immune regulation and inflammatory responses through autoreactivity to self-lipids, without requiring foreign antigens. This work has implications for treating cancer, viral infections, autoimmune diseases, and immunopathology. Her lab investigates these mechanisms in contexts such as graft-versus-host disease and Epstein-Barr virus infection, aiming to harness conserved activation pathways for off-the-shelf immunotherapies.

Dr. Gumperz has received several prestigious awards, including:

• Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences (2005)
• The Medical Foundation Charles A. King Trust Fellowship (2001)
• Burroughs Wellcome Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation (1996)

She has mentored numerous postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research staff, fostering an inclusive and collaborative lab environment. Her vision emphasizes learning from both experimental data and diverse team perspectives to advance immunotherapeutic strategies. The lab is located in the Microbial Sciences Building at UW–Madison, with strong institutional support from the Graduate School and microbiology departments.