Etienne Caron, PhD, an assistant professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine, has received the National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award. He is one of the 29 investigators who received the award this year. Caron utilizes cutting-edge mass spectrometry, combined with artificial intelligence, to map the complex landscape of peptides displayed on cell surfaces throughout the human body. His research challenges a long-held assumption in immunology—that the immune system simply ignores the body's own peptides while responding only to foreign invaders.
The prestigious New Innovator Award supports exceptionally creative, high-impact research by early-career scientists. The award will provide five years of funding for Caron’s research into how the body's own peptides modulate immune responses across different tissues. These advances could revolutionize treatment strategies for cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions—potentially leading to more effective and personalized immunotherapies.
Caron joined the Yale faculty in 2023. He initiated the Human Immuno-Peptidome Project, serving as its chair from 2015 to 2020 and he is a current member of the Yale Center for Immuno-Oncology, Yale Center for Infection and Immunity, and the Yale Center for Systems and Engineering Immunology.