Immunology Program

The Joseph Sun Lab

Research

Pictured: Joseph Sun
Joseph Sun, PhD

The immune system responds to viral infections by introducing a complex interplay of immune cells and factors, whose goal is to eliminate the intruding pathogen. One such effector cell in the antiviral response is the Natural Killer (NK) cell, which secretes inflammatory cytokines and directly kills infected cells. The focus of our research is aimed at defining the signals that NK cells require to mount an effective immune response against pathogens. We are also exploring the regulatory mechanisms keeping NK cells in check, thereby safeguarding against potential autoimmunity.

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The Sun Lab

Publications Highlights

Delconte RB, Owyong M, Santosa EK, Srpan K, Sheppard S, McGuire TJ, Abbasi A, Diaz-Salazar C, Chun J, Rogatsky I, Hsu KC, Jordan S, Merad M, Sun JC. 2024. Fasting reshapes tissue-specific niches to improve NK cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity. Immunity. 57(8):1923-1938.e7.

Santosa EK, Kim H, Rückert T, Le Luduec JB, Abbasi AJ, Wingert CK, Peters L, Frost JN, Hsu KC, Romagnani C, Sun JC. 2023. Control of nutrient uptake by IRF4 orchestrates innate immune memory. Nat Immunol. 24(10):1685-1697.

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People

Pictured: Joseph Sun

Joseph Sun, PhD

  • Immunologist Joseph Sun investigates the natural killer cell response against infection and cancer.
  • PhD, University of Washington
sunj@mskcc.org
Email Address
646-888-3228
Office Phone

Members

Veronica Shields
Veronica Shields

Administrative Assistant

Teresa Cato

Research Technician

Celeste Dang
Celeste Dang

Graduate Student

Rebecca Delconte
Rebecca Delconte

Research Fellow

Sherry Fan

Graduate Student

Simon Grassmann
Simon Grassmann

Research Fellow

GSK Student
Hyunu Kim

Graduate Student

Mariah Lee

Graduate Student

Adriana Mujal, PhD
Adriana Mujal

Research Fellow

Mark Owyong
Mark Owyong

Graduate Student

Endi Santosa
Endi Santosa

Graduate Student

Jack Sauter

Research Technician

Joseph Sun, PhD
Joseph Sun

Member

Jennifer Zhang

Research Technician

Lab Alumni
Jenny M. Karo
Jenny M. Karo Leeds

Healthcare Investor- Counterpoint Global at Morgan Stanley, New York, NY

Sharline Madera
Sharline Madera

MSK Position: MD/PhD Student; Current Position: Resident, UCSF

Theresa L. Hunter (Geiger)
Theresa L. Hunter (Geiger)

Principal Scientist, Capstan Therapeutics, Hayward, CA

Clair Geary
Clair Geary

MSK Position: Graduate Student; Current Position: Science Policy Fellowship, National Academy of Sciences

Nicholas M. Adams
Nicholas M. Adams

MSK Position: Tri-I MD-PhD Student; Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY

Carlos Diaz Salazar Albelda
Carlos Diaz Salazar Albelda

MSK Position: Graduate Student; Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, New York, NY

Aimee Beaulieu, Research Fellow
Aimee Beaulieu

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Assistant Professor, Rutgers Medical School

Matthew Firth, PhD
Matthew Firth

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Research Scientist, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Timothy O'Sullivan
Timothy O'Sullivan

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Assistant Professor, UCLA

Moritz Rapp
Moritz Rapp

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Research Scientist, Roche

Gabriela Wiedemann, PhD
Gabriela Wiedemann

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current: Assistant Professor, Technical University of Munich

Colleen Lau
Colleen Lau

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Assistant Professor, Cornell University

Jessica Sharrock, PhD
Jessica Sharrock

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Scientific Consulting

Sam Sheppard
Sam Sheppard

MSK Position: Research Fellow; Current Position: Instructor, Imperial College London

Carolyn Zawislak
Carolyn Zawislak

MSK Position: Research Technician; Current Position: Residency, MD Anderson

Lex Johnson
Lex Johnson

MSK Position: Research Technician; Current Position: Graduate Student, U Penn

Orrel Weizman
Orrel Weizman

MSK Position: Research Technician; Current Position: Graduate Student, Yale

Cindy Zhang
Cindy Zhang

MSK Position: Research Technician; Current: Biotech company

Ella Schochet
Ella Schochet

MSK Position: Research Technician; Current Position: Graduate Student, Weill Cornell

Aamna Abbasi
Aamna Abbasi

Research Technician; Current Position: Graduate Student, Duke

Claire Wingert
Claire Wingert

Research Technician; Current Position: Graduate Student, Weill Cornell

Helen Unger

MSK Position: 2012 SURP Student; Current: Graduate school, Ohio State University

Tiger Zhang

MSK Position: 2019 SURP student; Current: Computational biologist, D.E. Shaw Research

Kristen Beck

MSK Position: Student Researcher; Current Position: Medical School, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Christopher Irwin
Christopher Irwin

MSK Position: Student Researcher; Current Position: Medical Student, Rutgers Medical School

Kai Yee
Kai Yee

MSK Position: Student Researcher; Current: Medical School, UC Davis

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • Weill Cornell Graduate School Outstanding Teaching & Mentoring Award (2022)
  • American Cancer Society Research Scholar (2017)
  • Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in Infectious Disease (2016)
  • Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic Research (2015)
  • Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty Chair (2014)
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  • AAI Pfizer-Showell Early Career Investigator Award (2012)
  • Searle Scholar Award (2011)
  • Cancer Research Institute Investigator Award (2011)

Lab News & Events

Lab Photo Album

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

Career Opportunities

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Joseph Sun discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period


The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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