In fighting chronic infections or certain cancers, CD8+ T cells—the immune system’s frontline soldiers—eventually become exhausted. They lose effectiveness and respond less efficiently to threats. This weakening is a major therapeutic challenge, as it limits the body’s ability to fight chronic infections.

However, the team of Professor Simona Stäger at Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), in collaboration with colleagues from INRS and McGill University, has identified a key game changer: IRF-5. This transcription factor appears to preserve the energy and vitality of CD8+ T cells by acting directly on their metabolism.

These findings, recently published in The EMBO Journal, highlight the importance of fundamental research in understanding the immune system and developing innovative therapeutic approaches.

Salk Institute Professor Diana Hargreaves was named a 2025 All-Star Translational Award Program grantee by the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The award comes as a recognition of Hargreaves’ exceptional success with her previous V Foundation grant in 2016. For the All-Star project, she will receive $1 million and work with collaborator Gregory Botta, an associate professor at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, to improve immunotherapy—a treatment that utilizes the body’s own immune cells to fight cancer—in patients with pancreatic cancer.