(From left) P. Todd Stukenberg, PhD; David Rekhosh, PhD; and Zhijian “James” Chen, PhD
It has become abundantly clear that chronic inflammation underlies many autoimmune diseases, cancer and aging. To find new treatments, the first step is to identify the cellular mechanisms that drive inflammation. The Anderson Lecture hosted Zhijian “James” Chen, PhD, from the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School on April 17, 2025, a preeminent scholar and researcher who identified key players of an immunological pathway that exists in most cells, taking us one step closer to understanding cellular drivers of inflammation.
Dr. Chen’s seminar told the story of how his laboratory employed classic biochemical purifications to identify both the cGAS receptor that initiates the innate immune response and cGAMP, the second messenger that transduces the signal to transcribe and secrete interferon and other inflammatory cytokines. He explained how cGAS is activated by recognizing double-stranded DNA in the cytoplasm and how this can be used by cells to fight virus infection, yet can lead to chronic inflammation that underlies autoimmune diseases and cancer. He concluded his talk with exciting new stories demonstrating how these basic studies will generate new classes of therapeutics. Specifically, he showed that mice lacking the cGAS receptor have increased health span and how his past trainees have developed small molecule inhibitors of the cGAS protein that are well tolerated in phase 1 trials.
The lecture hall for Dr. Chen’s seminar was standing room only as students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and faculty congressed from across Grounds. The afternoon was also enriched by a heartfelt introduction from David Rekosh, PhD, who served on Dr. Chen’s thesis committee many years ago.
Dr. Chen is a member of the National Academy of Science and recipient of the prestigious Lasker Award—America’s Nobel Prize. Since 1945, 97 Lasker laureates have won the Nobel Prize, including nine since 2018.
The Anderson Lecture series was started 69 years ago when UVA School of Medicine alumnus John Anderson, MD, provided a generous gift to the medical school to support a lecture by a prominent scientist in medicine or public health. Today, the Anderson Lectureship has become a venue to unite the UVA scientific community by inviting prominent scientists of our age to Grounds every spring and fall.
Upcoming Anderson Lectures
The Anderson Committee has received acceptance for the next three Anderson Lectures.
- Huda Zoghbi, MD, from Baylor Medicine, an expert on the neurological diseases spinal muscular atrophy and Rett’s syndrome, will present on September 23, 2025.
- Richard Lifton, MD, PhD, human geneticist and current president of Rockefeller University, discovered many of the genes regulating blood pressure and will give an Anderson Lecture in March 2026.
- Eva Nogeles, PhD, from UC Berkeley, a structural biologist who has solved the structure of tubulin and other critical proteins, will present on September 16, 2026.
The Anderson Lecture committee welcomes nominations for future lecturers on their website at https://med.virginia.edu/office-for-research/events/
Filed Under: Research