ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2023

Benjamin Goldman-Israelow, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases at Yale School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in biology, and subsequently joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for MD and PhD training. He pursued his graduated research in the laboratory of Dr. Matthew Evans, where he developed a novel cell line to study the hepatitis C virus lifecycle and utilized this system to study interactions between HCV and the innate immune system, as well as other host cell factors. For his work, he received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. Dr. Goldman-Israelow next joined the Yale Internal Medicine ABIM Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway, completing his internal medicine and Infectious Diseases subspeciality training. During his fellowship, he joined the Laboratory of Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, where he led and contributed to multiple studies in human and animal models aimed at understanding the immunopathologic mechanisms underlying COVID-19 pathogenesis and immunity. He received the Iva Dostanic Physician-Scientist Award, and his research is supported by an NIAID K08 award. Dr. Goldman-Israelow’s lab focuses on defining the signals that control mucosal adaptive immunity to respiratory pathogens—and specifically, exploring the intersection between innate and adaptive immunity to characterize how innate signals at the respiratory mucosa modulate tissue specific adaptive immunity. He is working to leverage this knowledge to design more effective mucosal vaccines that function to both protect the individual and reduce transmission of emerging and re-emerging respiratory pathogens.