Prof. Talal A. Chatila
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Talal A. Chatila, MD, MSc is Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Program in Translational Immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is an internationally recognized physician-scientist whose research focuses on immune tolerance, regulatory T cell (Treg) biology, allergic inflammation, and inborn errors of immunity. Dr. Chatila was the first to identify mutations in FOXP3 as the cause of IPEX syndrome, a landmark discovery that transformed the understanding of immune dysregulation and peripheral tolerance. His work has further defined the molecular and metabolic mechanisms underlying Treg dysfunction in monogenic immune disorders, including DOCK8, LRBA, and STK4 deficiencies, and has provided novel insights into strategies for restoring immune tolerance. Dr. Chatila’s laboratory has also made seminal contributions to understanding how Notch signaling pathways in Treg cells shape tissue- and pathogen-specific inflammation, with direct relevance to asthma, viral lung infections, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). In parallel, his research has elucidated fundamental mechanisms of food allergy and allergic airway disease, including Treg cell reprogramming, microbiota–immune interactions, and loss of oral tolerance. His work has been continuously funded by the NIH for over two decades and has resulted in more than 270 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals such as Nature, Immunity, Science Immunology, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, and The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Dr. Chatila has trained numerous fellows and investigators who now hold leadership positions in academic allergy and immunology worldwide.