Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology at Mount Sinai

The Systems Immunology Program, led by Miguel Fribourg-Casajuana, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, integrates human immunology, high-dimensional omics, and computational analysis to define functional immune states in transplantation, autoimmunity, and inflammatory disease. Our central goal is to move beyond static immune phenotyping toward quantitative, systems-level understanding of immune function—linking cellular signaling, metabolism, and redox biology to disease progression and therapeutic response in humans.

From High-Dimensional Data to Immune States

We integrate high-dimensional immune profiling with computational frameworks that capture immune behavior as a dynamic, multivariate process. By combining multiparameter flow cytometry, functional assays, and multi-omic approaches—including transcriptomic and metabolic profiling—with data-driven analyses, we identify immune states not apparent from conventional lineage markers. These approaches reveal how immune cells, particularly T-cell subsets, transition between regulatory, inflammatory, and dysfunctional states in response to environmental and inflammatory cues.

Metabolism, Redox Biology, and Systems Control

A distinguishing feature is our focus on metabolic and redox regulation as system-level control points of immune function. We have developed tools to interrogate intracellular glutathione dynamics, oxidative stress responses, and metabolic flexibility in immune cells. Integrating these functional measurements with omics-scale data, we identify molecular signatures underlying immune suppression, activation, and plasticity.

Human Immunology and Translational Integration

The program is grounded in human immunology, with strong emphasis on primary human samples and clinically relevant disease contexts. We analyze patient-derived material from transplantation and inflammatory disease cohorts using integrated experimental and computational pipelines to define immune signatures associated with tolerance, rejection, and therapeutic response. Our studies generate translationally actionable outputs: biomarkers, immune-state classifiers, and patient stratification strategies.

An Integrated Computational Platform

By integrating high-dimensional immune profiling, multi-omics, and computational analysis within a unified framework, the program operates as a platform for systems-level interrogation of immune regulation. This approach supports collaborative research across the Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology by providing analytical pipelines, functional assays, and conceptual models applicable across disease areas and therapeutic modalities.