September 29, 2025
Alok Joglekar, assistant professor of immunology, is one of seven inaugural recipients of the highly competitive Common Mechanisms of Autoimmunity Insight Award.
The award, bestowed by the nonprofit coalition of Breakthrough T1D, the Lupus Research Alliance, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, funds research that enhances understanding of autoimmune diseases and accelerates potential therapies.
Joglekar will receive up to $150,000 for a one-year pilot investigation focused on DOCK2, a protein involved in autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, lupus, and multiple sclerosis.
In autoimmunity, killer T cells, helper T cells, and antibody-producing B cells move into organs and destroy healthy cells. DOCK2 regulates this process by helping immune cells sense chemical cues from tissues that serve as beacons. In previous research, Joglekar found that elevated levels of DOCK2 are associated with increased tissue infiltration by immune cells and that small molecule inhibitors of DOCK2 can block immune cell movement.
Using mouse models of autoimmune diseases, Joglekar and his team will test whether small molecule inhibitors of DOCK2 can prevent or delay autoimmunity by blocking infiltration of immune cells into tissues. They will also analyze publicly available patient datasets to evaluate if this pathway is active in patients with type 1 diabetes, lupus, and multiple sclerosis.
Coinvestigators on the grant, “Dock2-mediated T cell migration as a targetable shared mechanism in autoimmunity,” are Mark Shlomchik, professor of immunology, Jeremy Tilstra, assistant professor of medicine, Youjin Lee, assistant professor of immunology, and Wayne Stallaert, assistant professor of computational and systems biology.