Boris Novakovic

Boris Novakovic mapped the comprehensive epigenomic landscape of trained immunity at single-cell resolution, identifying the specific enhancer elements and transcription factor binding sites that are stably reprogrammed during immune training and maintain the trained phenotype through cell division. His work demonstrated that trained immunity involves coordinated changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications, and three-dimensional chromatin architecture at innate immune gene loci. He investigates how neonatal BCG vaccination establishes trained immunity epigenetic programs that persist into adulthood and influence lifetime cancer risk.