Maddi Lensing is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology. Her research studies how the body’s immune cells attack hair follicles and cause the autoimmune disease Alopecia Areata (AA), resulting in hair loss. In the Jabbari Research Lab, she investigates the mechanisms of AA and aims to develop new novel therapeutic strategies to stop hair loss and promote regrowth.
Previously featured in the 2023 Dare to Discover banner campaign, and as a finalist in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, Lensing was recently awarded the Graduate College’s Ballard Seashore Dissertation Fellowship for Fall 2026.
She answered a few questions about how she hopes to leverage her research to improve patient outcomes and how the opportunities at Iowa empower her work.
What is the focus of your research?
My research involves studying cells within our immune system. Typically, immune cells help protect us from diseases, but in the case of autoimmune diseases, those cells begin to attack healthy body tissues instead. I study the autoimmune disease Alopecia Areata (AA), which is driven by immune cells attacking hair follicles throughout the body, resulting in hair loss for patients.
Immune cells come in many different varieties, but my research involves studying a protective type of immune cell called a regulatory T cell or Treg. A key role of Tregs is to help restrain other immune cells when they get out of control. I have been characterizing whether Tregs become dysfunctional during alopecia areata and testing treatments which expand the number of Tregs to stop disease progression and potentially help promote hair regrowth. The goal of my research is to provide rationale for development and testing of new treatment options for patients with AA.
What inspired you to embark on this field of research?
I joined the Immunology Program because I found the concept of autoimmunity quite interesting. Why would the immune system—which is designed to protect us—cause harm to our own tissues? During my first year, I remember learning about Tregs for the first time and how they are critical for the prevention of autoimmunity—the abnormal attack of healthy tissues by the immune system—and kind of fell in love with them. All of us actually contain self-reactive immune cells, simply by the nature of how our immune system develops, but we can thank our Tregs for catching and suppressing those cells before an attack can be mounted.
When I committed to the Jabbari Research Lab to conduct research, there happened to be a Treg project that I could work on, and I felt like the stars aligned!
Where do you hope this field will take you?
Treg therapy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases has been gaining a lot of momentum recently, with numerous pharmaceutical companies initiating clinical trials to test efficacy, so I could see myself working somewhere in the Treg therapy industry. I am also considering staying in academia where I would pursue a postdoctoral fellowship as my next step. I would like to stick with Tregs as a general concept, but study them in a new disease context outside of alopecia areata.
How has the University of Iowa supported your goals?
Since I started graduate school, I have set a personal goal to be a better communicator. I think effective communication skills distinguish a good talk from a great talk. The university has provided numerous platforms for me to develop these skills: things like poster sessions, research retreats, teaching opportunities, student seminar series, and the Graduate College’s Three Minute Thesis research competition. All these opportunities provided diverse audiences, which have really helped shape me as a communicator.
What are some favorite memories from your time studying at Iowa?
My favorite memories during my time here have been traveling to conferences with my fellow lab members and other immunology graduate students. Thanks to the support of my Principal Investigator and my graduate program, I attended numerous annual conferences focusing on either immunology or dermatology from coast to coast. I really enjoyed “talking science” with other enthusiasts in my field and learning about the latest scientific advances. Highlights include traveling to the Autumn Immunology Conference in Chicago with the entire immunology graduate student body and traveling to Hawaii last year to attend the annual meeting for the American Association of Immunologists. There was a major symposium focusing on Tregs, which I thoroughly enjoyed!
Hometown
Solon, IA
Mentors
Ali Jabbari, Professor of Dermatology, Carver College of Medicine