ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2026
The Emerging Generation Awards (E-Gen Awards) recognize post-MD, pre-faculty appointment physician-scientists who are meaningfully engaged in immersive research.
About the awardee
Jeffrey R. Gehlhausen, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Gehlhausen completed his undergraduate studies in Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University. He then entered the MD/PhD program at Indiana University School of Medicine and joined the laboratory of Dr. Wade Clapp, studying cancer biology in the genetic disease neurofibromatosis. His thesis work used mouse models to understand the mechanisms driving tumor formation in neurofibromatosis, providing him with rigorous training in disease modeling and molecular biology.
Following his MD/PhD, Dr. Gehlhausen pursued residency in Dermatology and fellowship training in Dermatopathology at Yale. For postdoctoral training, he joined the laboratory of renowned viral immunologist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki where he began studying the cause and effects of chronic antiviral signaling in autoimmune skin diseases like lupus. He applied single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to cutaneous lupus, identifying novel stromal niches and retroelement-driven immune signatures that inform mechanisms of disease (Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2025). In the pandemic period he also contributed to important COVID-19 studies from the lab, including a first-author publication in PNAS.
Dr. Gehlhausen has been recognized with multiple early-career awards. His emerging research program at Yale focuses on how retroelements—genomic sequences that make up nearly 50% of the human genome—trigger innate antiviral signaling pathways and may serve as novel antigens for autoimmunity.
Clinically, Dr. Gehlhausen has developed a specialized expertise in autoimmune skin disease his clinic functions as a referral center in the New England region. His long-term goal is to integrate mechanistic immunology with patient care to develop new therapeutic approaches that improve outcomes for patients with autoimmune skin diseases.