News and Congratulations
Dr. Ashley Nelson, a CTSC KL2 Scholar, focuses her research on understanding immunoglobulin (IgG) antibody responses in children living with HIV. Collaborating with mentors Dr. Genevieve Fouda (professor of pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine) and Dr. Benjamin Greenbaum (associate attending in epidemiology & biostatistics, MSKCC), Dr. Nelson employs modern technologies to understand what host immune responses may contribute to the development of a class of rare HIV antibodies associated with protection, known as broadly neutralizing antibodies.
In 2024, Dr. Nelson received the Individual Biomedical Research Award from The Hartwell Foundation, an honor bestowed upon only ten recipients. This prestigious award provides $100,000 in direct cost support annually for three years and designates her as a Hartwell Investigator.
Beyond her KL2 research, Dr. Nelson, a member of the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children’s Health (assistant professor of immunology research in the department of pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine), investigates impaired immune responses in children with asthma, who face heightened susceptibility to severe respiratory infections. Her goal is to identify treatment targets that mitigate disease progression in these young patients.
For the Hartwell Award, Dr. Nelson will leverage similar techniques used in her KL2 research to analyze IgE responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in children with asthma. By studying IgE immune responses in this context, she aims to identify potential treatment targets and tools for predicting severe disease risk. Her collaborative efforts involve Dr. Stefan Worgall and Dr. Perdita Permaul, lead investigators of the SARS-CoV-2 and Pediatric Asthma in NYC (SPAN) urban cohort study.
The KL2 Scholars Program equips postdoctoral researchers (MD, PhD) with the skills needed to address complex biomedical challenges. The program was developed to create a cadre of trained postdoctoral scientists to accelerate the clinical and translational research continuum. Through rigorous didactic coursework and high-quality clinical translational mentored research, junior faculty and senior residents/fellows receive protected time to accelerate the clinical and translational continuum.