Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The Tobias Hohl Lab

Tobias M. Hohl, MD, PhD

Chief, Infectious Diseases Service

Professor

The focus of my research program is to decipher the molecular and cellular basis of immunity against Candida and Aspergillus species, major causative agents of invasive mycoses in patients with cancer.

We have developed fluorescence-based reporters of fungal physiology to examine the outcome of fungal cell-host cell interactions with single-encounter resolution at the portal of infection. Fluorescent Aspergillus reporter (FLARE) conidia (i.e., vegetative spores, the infectious fungal propagule) change their fluorescence properties when phagocytes inactivate fungal cells at the portal of infection (Figure 1). Using this bioreporter, we can measure fungal cell uptake and fungal cell killing by host leukocytes at single-encounter resolution in vivo.

This technique enables us to examine leukocyte effectors implicated in fungal uptake and killing, identify and functionally characterize the antifungal activities of neutrophils, monocytes, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and epithelial cells, and to analyze fungal genetic circuits implicated in pathogenesis. A major goal of this research is to develop an integrated model of sterilizing barrier immunity against inhaled mold pathogens.

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Featured News

MSK Researchers Discover Source of Deadly Fungal Infections in Bone Marrow Transplant Patients, New Study Finds

A team of researchers led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and collaborators at Emory University are shedding new light on deadly fungal infections that develop in bone marrow transplant patients.

Tobias M. Hohl Elected a 2022 AAAS Fellow

Tobias M. Hohl, MD, PhD, Chief of the Infectious Diseases Service in the Department of Medicine, was elected a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest scientific society and publisher of the Science journals. This title is one of the most distinguished honors within the scientific community and is designed to recognize leaders for their notable contributions to science.

Science Byte

Insight into How Lungs Repel Infection Could Guide Therapies for Transplant Patients

Learn how immune cells in the lungs trigger invasive fungal cells to self-destruct. The discovery could produce therapies to prevent infection in cancer patients.

Publications Highlights

Shlezinger N, Irmer I, Dhingra S, Beattie SR, Cramer RA, Braus GH, Sharon A, and Hohl TM. Sterilizing immunity in the lung relies on targeting fungal apoptosis-like programmed cell death. Science. 357:1037-1041, 2017.

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People

Tobias M. Hohl, MD, PhD

Chief, Infectious Diseases Service

Professor

Physician-scientist Tobias Hohl studies the molecular pathogenesis of human fungal pathogens and how the immune system responds to them.
MD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
PhD, Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University

[email protected]: Email Address
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Members

Dr. Tobias Hohl — Tobias Hohl
Chief, Infectious Diseases Service

Yahui Guo, Research Fellow — Yahui Guo
Research Fellow

Lab Alumni

Gladys Acosta, Administrative Assistant — Gladys Acosta
Administrative Assistant

Cynthia Franqui
Senior Research Technician

Lena Heung, MD, PhD — Lena Heung
Assistant Professor

Anupam Jhingran, PhD — Anupam Jhingran
Postdoctoral Fellow

Shinji Kasahara, PhD — Shinji Kasahara
Research Associate

Pictured: Benjamin Y. Tischler — Benjamin Y. Tischler
Senior Life Sciences Specialist at L.E.K Consulting, New York, NY

Nick Tosini

Research Technician

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2021)
Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation (2016)
Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases, Burrroughs Wellcome Fund (2014)
Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America (2012)
Young Investigator Award, American Society of Microbiology (2009)

Open Positions

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Career Opportunities

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Get in Touch

[email protected]

Lab Head Email
646-888-3599

Lab Phone
646-888-3591

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.

Tobias M. Hohl 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 [email protected].

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