University of Iowa Campus
About the Joint Space Immunology Laboratory
Dr. Cyndari is an Emergency Medicine physician dedicated to improving outcomes for all her patients. The Cyndari Laboratory studies the immune response within the joint space during infectious and inflammatory arthritis. We also have on-going studies evaluating tumor-associated macrophages in synovial sarcoma. We use entirely human models for these projects. Our goals are to understand what goes wrong with the immune system in the joint space and restore or repair normal function.
Meet the Lab Members
Learn more about the Researchers that make up the Cyndari Lab!
Our Funding
Learn more about the funding involved in helping us carry out our research!
About the Research
Learn more about the research that is done in the Cyndari Lab.
Welcoming
Partnership
Novel
Cyndari Lab Successfully Hosted CROI Summer Undergraduate Teagen Kasel
Teagen Kasel, CROI Summer Undergraduate, from Buena Vista University studied how the processing of the hemoglobin-haptoglobin complex is processed by tumor-associated macrophages within synovial sarcomas.
Hanna Huston Awarded a Place on Immunology T32 Predoctoral Training Grant
Hanna Huston was awarded a coveted place on the Immunology T32 Predoctoral Training Grant for 2026/2027. This training grant is supported by the NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has been funded since 1995. The overall goal of our predoctoral T32 training program is to educate, train, and produce a new generation of excellent young immunologists!
Hanna Huston Presented at University of Iowa Sarcoma Symposium
Hanna Huston presented a talk and at the 2026 University of Iowa Sarcoma Symposium held in Iowa City on August 7, 2026. She presented her work on the impact of the morphology of synovial sarcomas on the survivability outcomes.
Cyndari Lab Awarded ACS Institutional Research Grant
Cyndari Lab was awarded an Institutional Research Grant by the American Cancer Society. This grant provides 1 year of research support for Hanna Huston's Ph.D. project!
Cyndari Lab has Multiple Manuscripts in Publication in 2026!
A Pre-Clinical Model of Synovitis Using Ex vivo Human Synovial Tissue with Preserved Function and Architecture published in JoVE, A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of peripheral blood immune cells spanning progressive canine leishmaniosis published in iScience, and B. burgdorferi infection alters synovial macrophage responses in a human ex vivo model of Lyme Arthritis published in Fronties in Immunology. Just to name a few!