John Lukens, PhD ‘08

September 9, 2024 – The UVA Medical Alumni Association is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Early Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences: John Lukens, PhD ’08.

Dr. Lukens grew up in the Philadelphia area. For college, he attended the University of Richmond, where he pursued organic chemistry research in the laboratory of Dr. John Gupton. During his time in the Gupton lab, he contributed to the synthesis of a pyrrole-based bioactive marine natural product.

He received his PhD from the University of Virginia in 2008 for his work describing roles for PD-1 and functional T cell exhaustion in persistent liver infection. For his postdoctoral training, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where he identified how innate immune dysfunction contributes to autoinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis, osteomyelitis, and dermatosis.

In Fall 2014, Dr. Lukens returned to UVA to launch his lab in the Department of Neuroscience and the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). His group is focused on understanding the involvement of inflammasomes, immune-based genomic sensors, microglia, and the meningeal lymphatics in Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and autism. His research has received millions of dollars in financial support from the National Institutes of Health, the Owens Family Foundation, the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, the Alzheimer’s Association and the Department of Defense, among others.

In May 2024, Dr. Lukens was named as the inaugural director of the University of Virginia’s Harrison Family Translational Research Center in Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

A dedicated educator and generous mentor, he has launched the careers of many promising young scientists who are advancing the field of Alzheimer’s research and expanding our understanding of the role of the immune system in neurological diseases.

Congratulations to Dr. Lukens on this well-deserved award.