Dr. Sonnenberg completed his doctoral research training at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine in 2011. In 2012 and with a NIH Director’s Award, he established the Sonnenberg Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. In 2014, Dr. Sonnenberg was recruited as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University in New York City. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2018, received the Henry R. Erle, M.D.-Roberts Family Professorship with tenure in 2022, and was promoted to full professor in 2024. Dr. Sonnenberg has primary appointments in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, the Jill Robert’s Institute for Research in IBD, and the Meyer Cancer Center at Cornell University. In 2021, Dr. Sonnenberg started as Head of Basic Research in the Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Weill Cornell Medicine and Deputy Editor-in-Chief at Mucosal Immunology. Research from the Sonnenberg Laboratory has thus far has resulted in the publication of numerous primary articles in top-tier journals, including over 15 primary papers appearing in Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Medicine, Nature Immunology, Immunity, Science Immunology, Mucosal Immunology, and Cell Reports. Dr. Sonnenberg has published over 75 peer-reviewed primary and review papers and is continuously well funded by the NIH and private foundations. He is also recipient of numerous awards, including the Searle Scholar Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award, the Society for Mucosal Immunology Young Investigator Award (inaugural year), the Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old STAR Award (inaugural year), the International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS)-Luminex John R. Kettman Award for Excellence in Interferon & Cytokine Research (inaugural year),the Forbes List of rising stars transforming Science and Healthcare, the AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award, and a NIH/NIAID MERIT Award (R37). Dr. Sonnenberg regularly serves on numerous peer review panels, including standing membership on panels for the NIH CSR Review and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.
Education and Training
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania 2011
- B.S., State University of New York at Buffalo 2007