Michael J. Lenardo

Lenardo's work reveals how these molecules control the homeostasis of both immune and non-immune cell types. In so doing, it has illuminated the origins and mechanics of various underlying immunological and genetic disease processes, together with concepts for successful treatments. His lab’s 2017 identification of CD55 deficiency (which they named CHAPLE disease) led to the discovery of a safe and highly effective long-term treatment for a previously incurable, extremely debilitating and progressive disease. His discoveries have been found to be broadly applicable to common diseases such as cancer.

Dr. Michael J. Lenardo, is the chief of the Molecular Development and Immune System Section and the founder and co-Director of the Clinical Genomics Program at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Trained as a geneticist, molecular biologist, and immunologist, his research examines how cells of the immune system defend themselves against various pathogens, including viruses and bacteria. His research has investigated genetic abnormalities in the immune system, mechanisms of cell death, genetic diseases of immune homeostasis and autoimmunity, and development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics for diseases of the immune system. Lenardo's contributions to science and medicine have shown the possibilities of genomic research in developing precision medicine diagnoses and treatments for disease in humans. In 2006 he was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) by Queen Elizabeth II.  In 2019 he was inducted into the National Academies of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, considered among the highest honors awarded to a U.S scientist and medical researcher respectively..mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}

In 1989, Lenardo established an independent research section in the Laboratory of Immunology at NIAID, later becoming a senior investigator and section chief. He was named a NIH Distinguished Investigator in 2019, a title reserved only for the top 2-3% of investigators across all 27 institutes and centers at NIH.

Lenardo has served on editorial boards for the European Journal of Immunology, the Journal of Experimental Medicine, Science Magazine, Magnesium Research, and Biology Direct. He is an Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and a Life Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall College Cambridge University. Lenardo has been a strong proponent of mentorship for emerging young scientists at the National Institutes of Health. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of The Johns Hopkins University (1977–1981), is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected AAAS Fellow 2009, the American Association of Immunologists, the American Association of Physicians, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies, the Clinical Immunology Society, the European Society of Immunodeficiencies, and the American Society of Human Genetics.

Lenardo was born on December 1, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois to Elizabeth (nee O'Leary; 1925–2008) and Guido D. Lenardo (1923–2011), a physician. He became interested in genetics while a student at Campion Jesuit High School during a senior project in which he prepared karyotypes of chromosomes for a hospital laboratory investigating birth defects in infants. His research interests branched into molecular genetics while an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he worked in a laboratory within the Department of Medical Genetics at the medical school. He graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Natural Sciences. He continued his research at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was introduced to molecular biology through virus research. He obtained a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in 1981. Upon graduating, Lenardo married Dr. Lesley-Anne Furlong, M.D., a fellow medical school classmate.