The Cytokine Society is proud to announce that Dusan Bogunovic, Ph.D., of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, is the recipient of the 2026 Howard A. Young Distinguished Service Award. Established to honor individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the Society beyond their scientific work, the award recognizes the sustained and selfless commitment that makes the Cytokine Society community what it is.
The award will be presented at the Opening Session of Cytokines 2026 on Sunday, October 18th, at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow.
A Decade of Dedicated Service
Dr. Bogunovic has been a constant and committed presence at the heart of the Society’s governance for more than a decade. He first stepped forward as a postdoctoral fellow to get involved, and then later led the Society’s Membership Committee (2017–2019), before taking on a far larger responsibility as Treasurer — a role he held for six years, from 2019 to 2025.
During his tenure as Treasurer, Dr. Bogunovic oversaw the financial management of the Society through a period of significant growth, ensuring stability and sustainability with care and rigor. He was also instrumental in the transition of the role, investing considerable additional time and energy to onboard his successor, Dr. Elia Tait-Wojno, in a handover that set a new standard for institutional continuity. Dr. Tait-Wojno has specifically highlighted how indispensable his support was during that transition — exactly the kind of above-and-beyond contribution the Howard A. Young Award was created to honor.
Pioneering Research in Interferonopathies
Dr. Bogunovic’s service has never diminished his science. As Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Center for Genetic Errors of Immunity at Columbia University, his research in human immunogenetics has yielded a series of landmark discoveries. His lab identified the essential role of free intracellular ISG15 and USP18 in regulating Type I interferon-induced inflammation, and was first to show that ISG15-deficient individuals have augmented antiviral responses. His characterization of USP18 deficiency -including the first patient successfully treated with a JAK1 inhibitor, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2020 – exemplifies his translational impact. Further work identified pathogenic gain-of-function mutations in STAT2 and JAK1, and in 2021 his team characterized the first humans with complete TBK1 deficiency, published in Cell. Most recently, his 2025 Nature paper described the impact of monoallelic expression on penetrance of inborn errors of immunity. Across this body of work, Dr. Bogunovic has consistently translated fundamental cytokine biology into therapeutic insights for patients with severe interferonopathies and immune dysregulation — the kind of bench-to-bedside impact the Society celebrates.
About the Howard A. Young Distinguished Service Award
The Howard A. Young Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals whose dedication to the Cytokine Society — through governance, mentorship, organization, and community-building — has been exceptional and lasting. It honors the memory of Howard Young, whose own commitment to the Society exemplified the spirit the award seeks to perpetuate.
