Taejoon Won

Taejoon Won is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on immune mechanisms underlying myocarditis, autoimmunity, and the role of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in inflammatory diseases. He investigates how immune checkpoint inhibitors contribute to cardiovascular adverse events and explores protective roles of specific macrophage subsets in arthritis and myocardial injury.

Key research themes include T cell immunology, macrophage biology, and the interplay between cytokines and tissue-resident memory T cells. His work integrates lipidomics, single-cell analysis, and mouse models to study health-disease transitions in innate lymphoid cells and cardiovascular pathologies.

Recent articles highlight discoveries such as myocarditis driven by myosin-specific T cells, protective roles of GATA6+ macrophages in pericarditis, and mechanisms of immune checkpoint inhibitor toxicity. Collaborations span cardiology, rheumatology, and immunology, with studies published in Circulation Research, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Arthritis and Rheumatology.