Martina Damo

Martina Damo serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, where she joined the faculty in October 2023. She leads a research laboratory investigating immune checkpoint receptors on T cells and their role in immunological tolerance, with particular focus on how checkpoint blockade immunotherapy causes immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in cancer patients. Her work aims to identify druggable tolerance pathways and develop bioengineered therapies for tolerance modulation.

Dr. Damo's educational background includes:

• PhD in Bioengineering from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), 2016
• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Immunobiology at Yale University, 2022
• Instructor position at Yale University, 2023

Her research centers on T cell immunology in physiological and pathological contexts, with emphasis on peripheral tissue immunity. She investigates mechanisms of immune tolerance in skin and liver environments, neoantigen recognition by T cells, and the pathogenesis of irAEs following cancer immunotherapy. Her laboratory employs advanced techniques including clonal lineage tracing, mouse models of cancer and autoimmunity, and bioengineering approaches for therapeutic development.

Analysis of her publication history (2011-2025) reveals an evolving research trajectory from foundational work in antigen-specific tolerance and gene therapy (2011-2015) to contemporary focus on T cell exhaustion, checkpoint biology, and cancer immunotherapy applications (2018-2025). Her most cited works involve CD8+ T cell dynamics in tumors and viral infections, with consistent emphasis on translational applications. Key thematic areas include T cell tolerance mechanisms, irAE pathogenesis, and bioengineered tolerance-inducing therapeutics.

Dr. Damo actively mentors within her research laboratory and collaborates extensively with immunology researchers including Jeffrey Hubbell, Thomas Gajewski, and Melody Swartz. Her work has attracted significant attention with multiple publications exceeding 100 citations, substantial social media engagement (over 250 X posts), and patent references (23 patents citing her work). She maintains active research funding supporting her laboratory's investigations into T cell tolerance pathways.

Her laboratory operates within the University of Chicago's immunology research ecosystem, collaborating with colleagues in the Department of Medicine including Maria-Luisa Alegre and James Curran. Current projects focus on developing targeted approaches to prevent irAEs while preserving anti-tumor efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors, leveraging her expertise in tissue-specific immune regulation.