MI2025 – Amit Awasthi

Title:
Understand the T cell landscape in SARS-CoV2 infection

Abstract:
Emerging evidence shows increased humoral response post-omicron surge, but research on T cell responses is limited. This study investigated the durability, magnitude, and breadth of SARS-CoV-2-spike-specific T cell responses in 216 two-dose vaccinated individuals pre- and post-omicron surge. Post-surge samples showed enhanced T cell responses, indicating widespread asymptomatic exposure to omicron. Further analysis of 105 individuals with multiple exposures to SARS-CoV-2 through boosters or infections showed that post-omicron, two-dose vaccinated individuals had T cell responses comparable to those of COVID-19 convalescents or boosted individuals. Additionally, we report cross-reactive T cell responses against omicron sub-variants, including BA2.86, remained strong, with preserved frequencies of spike-specific stem-cell-like memory T cells. In silico prediction indicates that mutated epitopes of JN.1 and KP.2 retain over 95.6% of their HLA binding capability. Overall, our data suggests that T cell responses are sustained, enhanced, and cross-reactive against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants following symptomatic or asymptomatic omicron infection.

Biography:
Dr. Amit Awasthi is a Senior Professor at THSTI with over 100 peer-reviewed publications, an h-index of 40, and more than 15,000 citations. He has received several prestigious accolades, including the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) and the National Bioscience Award from the Department of Biotechnology, the CDRI Award for Excellence in Drug Discovery Research from CSIR-CDRI, the GP Talwar Mid-Career Award from the Indian Immunology Society, and the Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Awardby the National Academy of Sciences, India. He served as Secretary-General of the Indian Immunology Society (2018–2022) and is currently its elected President. In 2022, he was elected to the GRC (Global Research Council) and has been inducted as a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in 2025. Since joining THSTI in 2012, Dr. Awasthi has led impactful research in T cell biology, focusing on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. His pioneering work on Th9 cells has advanced understanding of their transcriptional, proteomic, and metabolic regulation in tissue inflammation, with publications in Nature Communications (2017, 2021, 2023), Frontiers in Immunology (2019), and NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes (2025). His study on how salt modulates immune responses in tumor control(Science Advances, 2021) has received global attention. Additionally, his research on pathogenic vs. non-pathogenic Th17 cells has deepened insights into autoimmune disease mechanisms. His recent work onT cell responses to COVID-19 vaccines has been widely. Amit Awasthi is currently serving as elected President of Indian Immunology Society.