New center joins international consortium advancing precision, early disease detection, and innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases
A $5 million gift from philanthropists Judith and Stewart Colton will establish a Colton Center for Autoimmunity within the Marc and Jennifer Lipschultz Precision Immunology Institute (PrIISM) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. This move expands research focused on earlier detection, precision treatment, disease prevention, and improved outcomes for people living with autoimmune diseases.
The new Colton Center for Autoimmunity at Mount Sinai will become part of the Colton Consortium for Autoimmunity, an international research collaborative that brings together leading institutions to accelerate scientific discovery through data sharing, multidisciplinary collaboration across institutions, and rapid translation of research findings into new diagnostics, biomarkers, and therapies.
From left: Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD; Miriam Merad, MD, PhD; Judith Colton; Shruti Naik, PhD; and Stewart Colton at a private reception to celebrate the establishment of the Colton Center for Autoimmunity at Mount Sinai. Photo credit: Mount Sinai Health System
Autoimmune diseases are among the most complex and challenging conditions in medicine, affecting more than 15 million Americans across more than 105 conditions that can damage nearly every organ system. Despite advances in treatment, autoimmune diseases are becoming more common worldwide, and many patients still face delayed diagnosis, disease progression before intervention, unpredictable cycles of flare and remission, and limited treatment options.
The Coltons’ commitment to autoimmune disease research is deeply personal. It began in 2001 with a family member’s experience that inspired a long-term philanthropic commitment to advancing research and accelerating better treatments for patients and families facing similar illnesses.
Over the past decade, the family’s generosity established Centers for Autoimmunity at NYU Langone Health, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and Tel Aviv University. Mount Sinai now joins this collaborative network, expanding its reach and capabilities at a critical moment for the field.
The Center will be directed by Shruti Naik, PhD, Associate Professor of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Dermatology, and Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, with Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, serving as Co-Director. Dr. Merad is Dean for Translational Research and Therapeutic Innovation, Chair of the Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy, and Director of PrIISM, bringing the institutional reach and expertise to accelerate the Center’s research findings into clinical impact.
“We are thrilled to have Mount Sinai join the Colton Consortium, bringing expertise in autoimmunity and immune profiling that will complement existing work at the other four Colton centers,” says Colton Consortium Director John Wherry, PhD. “This expansion of the Consortium will further catalyze the impact of discovery science on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of autoimmunity.”
The Center’s research is grounded in a deeper mechanistic understanding of autoimmune disease with direct implications for therapeutic development: although autoimmune diseases affect different organs and tissues—including the brain in multiple sclerosis, the joints in rheumatoid arthritis, and the kidneys in lupus—many share common immune pathways. Understanding these shared mechanisms and the specific tissue environments in which they occur may enable researchers to develop more precise, effective treatments across multiple diseases.
“This gift allows us to pursue science at the scale this challenge demands,” says Dr. Naik. “Autoimmune diseases have traditionally been studied as separate conditions, yet many are driven by shared immune mechanisms. By understanding what connects these diseases at their biological roots, we can move beyond managing symptoms and toward more precise, personalized approaches to prevention and treatment.”
Mount Sinai’s PrIISM has developed leading-edge platforms for scientific discovery, translational research, and innovative clinical trials that have successfully applied cross-disease approaches in cancer and some chronic inflammatory diseases. The new Center extends these capabilities to autoimmune disease research, expanding the Consortium’s collective ability to identify disease earlier, develop precision therapies, and improve patient outcomes. Working with Consortium partners, the Center will build large-scale datasets across multiple autoimmune diseases and apply AI-enabled analytics to identify disease before symptoms appear, discover biomarkers associated with progression and relapse, and help predict treatment response.
“Our goal is to connect every stage of discovery—from deep immune profiling and defining disease mechanisms to developing precision therapies and testing them in innovative clinical trials,” says Dr. Merad. “Working closely with our Consortium partners, we aim to fundamentally change how autoimmune diseases are detected, treated, and ultimately prevented.”
“That goal—rapidly turning insights drawn directly from patients into better clinical care—is made possible by a family whose commitment to this field stretches back more than a decade.
Judith and Stewart Colton have built something remarkable—a consortium across institutions that is redefining how autoimmune disease is understood and treated,” says Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “We are very honored to be part of the Colton Consortium. Their investment in our new Center reflects both extraordinary generosity and a deep appreciation of what it takes to transform scientific discovery into meaningful improvements in patient care and outcomes.”
The new Center will be officially introduced at the 2026 Consortium for Autoimmunity Symposium taking place Tuesday-Thursday, July 28-30, at the Lotte New York Palace in New York City. During the program, Drs. Naik and Merad will discuss their vision for the new Center’s role within the Consortium and highlight recent advances in autoimmune disease research.
About the Colton Consortium for Autoimmunity
The Colton Consortium for Autoimmunity is a global, multi-institutional research partnership uniting leading academic medical centers—including the University of Pennsylvania, New York University Langone Health, Yale University, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Tel Aviv University—in a coordinated effort to transform the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Through sustained philanthropic investment and a highly integrated collaborative model, the Consortium advances high-impact science that spans discovery research, translational studies, and clinical application, with the shared goal of improving outcomes for patients worldwide. The Consortium is made possible through the generosity of the Colton Family Foundation, led by Judy and Stewart Colton. Learn more at coltonconsortium.org.
About the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the seven member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to New York City’s large and diverse patient population.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, MD-PhD, and master’s degree programs, with enrollment of more than 1,200 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,700 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers 13 degree-granting programs, conducts innovative basic and translational research, and trains more than 470 postdoctoral research fellows.
Ranked 11th nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is among the 90th percentile of U.S. private medical schools in Sponsored Programs Direct Expenditures per Principal Investigator, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. More than 6,900 scientists, educators, and clinicians work within and across dozens of academic departments and multidisciplinary institutes with an emphasis on translational research and therapeutics. Through Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), the Health System facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of medical breakthroughs made at Mount Sinai.