JLB Editorial Board

Michael Schnoor, PhD MSc, Professor, Department for Molecular Biomedicine, Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Cinvestav-IPN), Mexico-City, Mexico. My research focuses on studying the roles of actin-binding proteins (ABP) in leukocyte recruitment across vascular and mucosal barriers during inflammatory disorders such as colitis and sepsis. Analyzing cortactin-deficient mice, we provided evidence for the mechanistic differences underlying leukocyte extravasation and vascular permeability. We also discovered previously unrecognized functions of ABP for the activation of GTPases and integrins, and stress fiber formation during neutrophil transmigration. Another focus in the lab is the role of ABP for organ infiltration and relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Xin Chen, M.D, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Director, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China; and Guest Researcher, NCI/NIH, Bethesda, Maryland. I have studied the immunobiology and pharmacology of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) for more than two decades. I collaborated with Dr. Joost J. Oppenheim, to show for the first time the decisive role that TNF-TNFR2 interaction in the activation of Tregs. As an experienced researcher in complementary and alternative medicine, I also am seeking to provide mechanistic insight into the immunosuppressive effects of compounds derived from Chinese medicine, such as triptolide and tetrandrine.

Liwu Li, Ph.D., Professor of Inflammation Biology & Immunology, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia. My research group addresses three integrated areas of innate immunity and inflammation: 1) Fundamental principles of innate immune memory dynamics, such as priming, tolerance and exhaustion of monocytes and neutrophils; 2) Non-resolving inflammation during the pathogenesis of acute and chronic diseases, such as sepsis and atherosclerosis; and 3) Therapeutic reprograming of resolving monocytes and neutrophils. We have defined signal-strength and history dependent priming, tolerance and exhaustion of monocytes and neutrophils through multiple mutually inhibitory circuitries. We have identified unique subsets of low-grade inflammatory monocytes programmed by subclinical low-dose endotoxemia conducive for the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. We have defined the TLR4-TRAM network that underlies inflammatory polarization and exhaustion of innate monocytes and neutrophils. Our translational efforts reveal that reprogrammed resolving monocytes and neutrophils can be used for the treatment of experimental atherosclerosis as well as for sepsis.

Melanie J. Scott, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, Department of Surgery. My main research interests are in the inflammasome and inflammatory caspases and how they are activated in trauma and sepsis. My lab investigated the role of inflammasome in non-immune cells of the liver (hepatocytes) and discovered that caspase-1 is protective in the liver after redox stress through the initiation of mitophagy and clearance of damaged mitochondria. I also have a collaboration investigating inflammasome activation in a tick-borne intracellular bacterial disease, ehrlichiosis, which causes sepsis and multi-organ failure and primarily impacts liver function. I am also collaborating on a project investigating platelet inflammasome activation in sickle-cell disease.

Silvia M. Uriarte, Ph.D., Professor, University Scholar, Department of Oral Immunology & Infectious Diseases, School of Dentistry, University of Louisville, Kentucky. In our laboratory, we focus on innate immunity, particularly in neutrophils. Over the past 17 years, our work has defined granule exocytosis's role in neutrophil priming and inflammation and has provided novel tools to inhibit neutrophil granule release selectively. In addition, over the past ten years, the laboratory has focused on studying neutrophil interactions with pathogens, with a primary emphasis on emerging periodontal pathogens. Overall, our work is helping to define new interactions between these emerging oral pathogens and the host, to lay a foundation for developing new therapeutic approaches to combat periodontal diseases.

Dr. Alcaide is the Kenneth and JoAnn G. Wellner Professor of Immunology and the Director of the Immunology Graduate program at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. Dr. Alcaide’s research investigates the mechanisms by which adaptive immune responses dominate inflammatory chronic diseases and participate in the deadly syndrome of heart failure (HF), with the goal of unveiling new pathways that can potentially be targeted in therapeutic useful ways. Her research in the emerging field of cardio-immunology focuses on understanding how cardiac T cell immune responses are elicited in the onset of different heart failure etiologies, what mechanisms control T cell cardio tropism, and how cardiac infiltrated T cells orchestrate cardiac fibrosis and cardiomyocyte dysfunction through cellular crosstalk and influence heart failure progression.

Irving Coy Allen, M.B.A, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences at Virginia Tech. Elucidating the contribution of Pattern Recognition Receptors in host immunity is a pillar of my laboratory. My research group is divided into three teams focusing on host-pathogen interactions, inflammatory diseases, and cancer. Our work has generated foundational findings defining roles for inflammasome forming and regulatory NLRs in respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. As a faculty member in both the Veterinary College and Medical School, I have a unique opportunity to interface between basic science, preclinical animal models, and human studies, enabling me to conduct truly translational research.

Dr. Belén Alvarez-Palomo is a senior researcher at Banc de Sang i Teixits, at the Cell Therapy Service and is affiliated to the Transfusional Medicine Group at Vall d’Hebron Institut of Research (VHIR). She leads the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells-derived Advanced Therapies group at BST. Her main research interests are the manufacturing of clinical grade induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and the development of clinical grade protocols to produce iPSC-derived effector cells for different immunotherapies, particularly in CAR-NK and CAR-macrophages for the treatment of blood malignancies, solid tumour and infectious diseases, using gene editing tools for the delivery of the CAR constructs as an alternative to lentiviral vectors, and designing optimized up-scaled GMP compatible manufacturing processes.

Avery August is Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Professor of Immunology, Deputy Provost, and a Presidential Advisor on Diversity and Equity at Cornell University. His research focuses on understanding the signals that regulate the balance of inflammation and pathology, using models of lung inflammation, including to infection with flu, SARS-CoV2, allergic airway inflammation, and Hypersensitivity pneumonitis. He also studies the relationship between signal strength and the development of a T cell response. He received a BS in Medical Technology from California State University at Los Angeles, a PhD in Immunology from Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Rockefeller University as a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow. After a brief stint in industry at the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute as a Scientist in Drug Discovery, he moved to The Pennsylvania State University, where he was Distinguished Professor, prior to moving to Cornell as Chair of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. He has led the development a number of funded programs aimed at diversifying STEM at all levels. He has served on a number of national and international government and non-profit committees, and is currently on the Board of Trustees for the New York Blood Center and the Guthrie Clinic.

I am heading the Experimental and Translation Research Division of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, at the University Hospital Essen, a member of the West German Cancer Center, in Essen, Germany. My main research area is the immunological tumor-host interaction with a focus on myeloid cells, in particular MDSC and tumor-associated neutrophils. Additional research projects aim at developing novel immunotherapies for head and neck cancer and understanding the role of mesenchymal stromal cells in cancer and infection. I am actively involved in graduate and post-graduate teaching and mentoring and serve as a chairperson of “BIOME” (Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences at the Medical Faculty of University Duisburg-Essen) and the UMESCIA Medical Scientist School. I also initiated and coordinate European and global research initiatives aiming at the coordination of research on myeloid cells and their activity in disease: COST ACTIONs Mye-EUNITER and Mye-InfoBank.

Timothy Bullock, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology and Human Immune Therapy Center, University of Virginia. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, followed by a Ph.D. in Immunology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. My laboratory in the Department of Pathology has led studies into how TNF superfamily members such as CD27 and CD40 modulate anti-tumor immunity, with the intent of leveraging these molecules to improve cancer vaccines and inherent responses to tumors. We are examining how these costimulatory molecules influence T-cell transcriptional networks and bioenergetics, and how it can be leveraged with companion approaches to augment anti-tumor immunotherapy. We have additional programs in T cell immunometabolism, and the deployment of Focused Ultrasound in the generation and manipulation of immunity to cancer. My laboratory also collaborates with clinical investigators to support immune correlate analysis of clinical trials. We have published over 60 manuscripts and have been continuously funded since the lab started.

Tal Burstyn-Cohen, PhD, Professor, Institute for Biomedical and Oral Research (IBOR) at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Dr. Burstyn-Cohen received her PhD in neurobiology and studied neural crest biology during her first postdoc, both at the Hebrew University in Israel. Her second postdoc at the Salk Institute for Biomedical Studies, La Jolla, CA, focused on TAM signaling and Protein S. Her lab studies the role of the TAM signaling pathway constituting the receptors TYRO3, AXL & MERTK, as well as their ligands PROTEIN S (PROS1) and GAS6 in health and disease. Following the discovery that PROS1 is a functional TAM agonist, her lab focuses on the cellular roles of PROS1, otherwise known for its role as a potent blood anticoagulant. Current research focuses on their role in myeloid cells, including macrophages and microglia.

Marco A. Cassatella, M.D., Professor, General Pathology, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Italy. Recipient of the Maria T. Bonazinga award (currently Legacy Award) and Honorary Life Membership from the Society of Leukocyte Biology. Throughout my career, I have focused my studies on the effector functions of leukocytes in the field of inflammation and innate immunity. My research has resulted in seminal findings initially on the molecular mechanisms regulating the production of reactive oxygen intermediates by phagocytes, and then activating CD16/FcgRIIIA in NK cells. Subsequently, I provided evidence that polymorphonuclear neutrophils are: i) important sources of a variety of cytokines; ii) key cellular players in regulating angiogenesis; iii) targets of intracellular pathogens via their recognition by cytoplasmic RNA and DNa sensors. Further scientific contributions relate to my original studies on the role of microglia in Alzheimer’s disease and human slan+-monocytes/slanDCs in tumors. More recently, my group has identified CD34+ neutrophil-committed progenitors in humans, which represent the earliest neutrophil precursors to date identified.

Christophe Caux, Ph.D., Research Director, INSERM, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), France. I received my doctoral degree from Lyon University and have received support within the Laboratory for Immunological Research of Schering-Plough in Dardilly, France since 1992. My main research interests have centered on the field of human dendritic cells (DC), chemokines, and Toll-Like-Receptors (TLR) in linking innate and acquired immunity. This research has led to strategies to manipulate DC and reactivate anti-tumor immunity. Since 2005, I have directed an immuno-oncology research team and coordinated a platform for translational immunotherapy programs. My current interests focus on breast and ovarian carcinoma. We seek to identify immuno-surveillance and immune subversion mechanisms and to develop therapeutic strategies based on reprograming tumor microenvironment. Our team has pioneered several mechanisms of immune evasion in breast and ovarian carcinoma and identified original targets for drug development (ICOS, CD39/CD73, TLR-7-L).

Holly Chinnery, B.Sc Hons., PhD, Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences Senior lecturer and head of the Corneal and Ocular Immunology Laboratory at the University of Melbourne. I have published over 50 papers relating to identifying the phenotype and function of resident tissue leukocytes in the cornea and ocular surface of the eye, including how these immune cells interact with corneal sensory nerves. My laboratory uses rodent models of corneal and ocular inflammation caused by injury and/or exposure to topical drugs, and also have reported how corneal immune cells are affected in systemic conditions including metabolic disturbances and dementia. Understanding how corneal immune cells are altered during both ocular and non-ocular diseases in rodents is important for our understanding of translational studies that focus on human corneal immune cell imaging.

Jose Conejo-Garcia, MD, PhD. Department of Immunology, Duke School of Medicine. My research program focuses on investigating and targeting the mechanisms governing the balance between immunosuppression and protective immunity in the tumor microenvironment, with an emphasis on the crosstalk between innate (gd) and adaptive (ab) T and B lymphocytes. My NCI-funded studies are cited over 1000 times annually and include advances on the role of humoral immunity and novel immune checkpoint inhibitory pathways. Discoveries pioneered in my laboratory have also led to an ongoing clinical trial using novel CAR T cells. Five former trainees are current faculty at top national and international institutions.

Nicola Conran Ph.D., University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Brazil. My major research focus is on translational aspects of leukocyte biology, particularly in hematological diseases such as sickle cell disease. Leukocytes play a major role in the pathophysiology of hemolytic diseases, where their activation, adhesion to the endothelium and participation in heterocellular aggregate and NET formation are key actors in the vaso-occlusive and inflammatory processes that characterize these disorders.

Leah M. Cook, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research; Branch: Cancer Innovation Laboratory; Adjunct Investigator, Genitourinary Malignancies Branch. My lab investigates immune–tumor–bone crosstalk in bone‑metastatic prostate cancer. We showed that bone‑resident neutrophils initially restrain tumor growth and kill prostate cancer via STAT5 suppression, but tumors adapt to blunt neutrophil cytotoxicity. We then defined a redox vulnerability, through NOX2/ROS and glutathione pathways, that sensitizes androgen‑insensitive disease to neutrophil‑based strategies. We also found that androgen‑deprivation can suppress neutrophil function via TβRI signaling. Building on these findings, we are mapping STAT5 tumor crosstalk that activates neutrophils, targeting multiple metabolic pathways to re‑sensitize castration‑resistant prostate tumors, dissecting contact‑dependent neutrophil killing, and determining how MSC‑derived CXCL8/CXCL1 programs osteogenesis and fuels metastasis to bone. Our goal is to translate these mechanisms into immunotherapies that harness neutrophils and remodel the bone microenvironment.

Teun de Vries, PhD and Associate Professor at Academic Centre for Dentistry (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I graduated as Cell Biologist from the Agricultural University Wageningen, the Netherlands, in 1991 and received my PhD on “The plasminogen activation system in melanocytic tumors” at the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1996. A post-doctoral period at the same university followed on molecular detection of circulating melanoma cells. I work as a bone cell biologist at ACTA since 1999. One of the central themes of research was the origin of osteoclasts, monocyte-derived bone degrading cells that play a role in physiology and pathology, such as periodontitis. Both mouse and human monocyte lineage-derived precursor cells were identified. In recent years I employed various experimental periodontitis approaches using a combination of gum-associated fibroblasts and human peripheral blood precursors to clarify specific T-, B- cell and monocyte- fibroblast interactions that are relevant for understanding periodontal tissue responses to inflammation leading to bone loss. I was editor-in-chief of the European Calcified Tissue Society newsletter and edited various research topics at Frontiers journals. Teaching at ACTA and at Amsterdam University College is a passion that nicely complements life as a scientist.

Margarita Dominguez-Villar, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London (UK). I received my doctoral degree in Immunology from the University of Cadiz (Spain) in 2007, followed by a postdoctoral training at the Center for Neurologic Diseases (Harvard University) and, subsequently, at the Department of Neurology at Yale University. My postdoctoral research focused on the dissection of mechanisms that are responsible for regulatory T cell dysfunction in autoimmunity, with a particular interest in multiple sclerosis. I was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Yale University in 2015 and I moved my laboratory in 2018 to Imperial College London (UK). My laboratory is interested in understanding basic molecular mechanisms of T cell and regulatory T cell function/dysfunction in autoimmune diseases with a particular focus on multiple sclerosis and, more recently, also on HAM/TSP (caused by HTLV-1 infection) and the mechanisms by which environmental factors such as dietary factors, hormones, viral infections, etc., control the generation of these responses.

Jamel El-Benna, Ph.D., Research Director in the Center of Research on Inflammation (CRI), INSERM, University of Paris-Cité, Xavier Bichat Hospital, Paris, France. My research program has focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of innate immunity and inflammation, in particular the regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by the phagocyte NADPH oxidase in neutrophils. As p47phox is a critical cytosolic component in the organization of the NADPH oxidase, my work has identified the p47phox phosphorylated sites and demonstrated their functional importance in the activation and priming of ROS production by neutrophils. We have also identified the proline isomerase Pin1 as a key enzyme in ROS production by human neutrophils. My group also identified and studied the phosphorylation of the other NADPH oxidase components (p67phox and gp91phox/NOX2) in human neutrophils and NOX1 in colon epithelial cells.

Zvika Granot, Ph.D., professor, Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research within the Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University. I received my Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Hebrew University in Israel and completed my post-doctoral training in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. My work focuses on neutrophil function and diversity in health and disease. Our studies prompted the understanding that neutrophils are not a homogeneous population and this has led us to look for modes of manipulating neutrophil function. My laboratory developed a platform for neutrophil-specific drug delivery and we using this platform to explore the consequences of manipulating specific neutrophil functions in mouse models of disease.

Clive Gray, PhD is full Professor of Immunology in Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at Stellenbosch University and Emeritus Professor of Immunology at the University of Cape Town. I have been involved with HIV immunology research for 25 years investigating the earliest T cell events during acute infection. I now head the Reproductive Immunology Research Consortium in Africa (RIRCA) at Stellenbosch University, where we focus on how maternal HIV infection and antiretroviral drug treatment impacts upon placental immune networks, specifically on macrophages and T cell interactions within the placenta. My group is specifically relating placental immune dysfunction and how this in turn impacts on immune dysfunction in HIV Exposed Uninfected children.

Monica L. Guzman, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology in Medicine, in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Guzman leads a research program focused on the development of therapeutic strategies for targeting leukemic stem cells. Her laboratory utilizes and develops flow cytometry, NGS approaches to evaluate LSCs and assess MRD. In close collaboration with physicians and industry, her research has resulted in the translation of laboratory findings into clinical trials. She has authored or co-authored more than 50 papers in the field and has received funding from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, NIH, V Foundation, and the Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation, among other organizations. Dr. Guzman was the recipient of the NIH Director’s Innovator Award and the V Foundation Scholar Award, both in 2010. In 2020 she was listed in 100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America.

Jianlei Hao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biomedical Translational Research Institute, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. I received B.Sc. (2007) and Ph.D. (2012) at Nankai University in Tianjin, China. I then went to work as a postdoc in Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL, USA (2012-2013) and Jinan University (2013-2017). During the postdoc period, I worked in Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, USA as a lab associate (2014-2016). From 2017, I serve as an associate professor and PI in Jinan University. My research mainly focuses on the differentiation and function of gamma delta T cells.

Huanhuan (Mahsa) HE, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular Imaging Center at The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. My research focuses on the crosstalk between macrophages and vasculature in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and imaging TME with multimodality. As part of my Ph.D. work at the University of California, Los Angeles, I found that perivascular macrophages could protect vessels from leaking. Later, my lab delineated the mechanism underlying macrophage-mediated vascular permeability under the setting of ovarian cancer. Recently, we are working on the nuts and bolts of a special type of visceral vascular malformation, developing therapeutic strategies against such intractable disease.

Xiaoyu Hu received her Bachelor of Medicine degree from Peking University and obtained her Ph.D. degree in immunology from Cornell University. Currently she is Professor and Director at Institute for Immunology, Tsinghua University. Dr. Hu’s research aims to better understand molecular mechanisms governing functionality of two key cell types involved in host defense and inflammatory responses, macrophages and intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). One focus of Dr. Hu’s laboratory is to uncover transcriptional, translational and metabolic mechanisms that regulate macrophage and IEC responses to pathogenic and inflammatory cues. Dr. Hu has authored over 70 publications and book chapters.

Professor Hyun began immunological research with a fascination for cellular behavior in live organisms, which led to pursue advanced training in immunology and imaging. After completing PhD in Medical Science at the Australian National University, he conducted postdoctoral research at Brown University and later at the University of Rochester, where deepening the expertise in host-pathogen interactions, leukocyte biology, and intravital imaging in animal models. Since joining Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, KOREA in 2016, he has led a vibrant research program focused on understanding neutrophil, macrophage and T cell trafficking, inflammasome activation, and the immune microenvironment in disease contexts such as neuroinflammation and lung injury as well as under intake of environmental pollutants. Over the past two decades, he has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, with key contributions published in Science, J.E.M., PNAS, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Cell Host & Microbe, and Theranostics.

Jadwiga Jablonska, PhD, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Essen, West German Cancer Center, Germany. My research focuses on the neutrophil-dependent immunoregulatory mechanisms that are shaping the progression of cancer and inflammation. In the translational experimental setting (mice and human) I seek to develop strategies to manipulate neutrophils and reactivate anti-tumor immunity. My current interests focus on HNC and melanoma. My research has resulted in seminal findings on the molecular mechanisms regulating tumor angiogenesis and type I IFN-driven anti-tumor polarization of neutrophils in cancer. We could also demonstrate that therapeutic targeting neutrophil STAT3/PDL1 signaling leads to the impairment of tumor progression via the expansion of the cytotoxic CD8 T cells. Since 2024 I am honored to serve as a councilor of Society of Leukocyte Biology.

Louis B. Justement, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham. My laboratory has a long-standing interest in studying various aspects of B cell biology. Early studies in the laboratory were focused on the role of the BCR complex in transducing signals that promote B cell activation. Subsequently, the laboratory became interested in the role of surface receptors, including CD22 and CD45 and the role they play in regulating B cell activation. Most recently, the laboratory focused on the cellular and molecular processes that regulate the humoral response with a particular interest in B cell differentiation. Ongoing projects examine the role of CD19-dependent signaling in controlling the germinal center response. The laboratory also has a long-standing interest in characterizing the physiological function of the adaptor protein HSH2. Studies have shown that HSH2 is differentially expressed throughout the peripheral B cell pool and that differential expression of HSH2 in vivo has significant effects on the production of class-switched antibodies in response to T-dependent and T-independent antigens.

Dr. Cheng-Lung Ku, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Center for Molecular and Clinical Immunology at Chang Gung University. His research focuses on immune dysregulation and the pathogenesis of immune-related diseases in humans. A key area of his work examines immune dysregulation caused by inborn errors or anticytokine autoantibodies, including those targeting interferon-gamma, type I interferon, and GM-CSF. Notably, Dr. Ku and his team identified anti-gamma interferon autoantibodies as a causative factor in mycobacterial infections, revealing their associations with HLA genes and microbial pathogens. Leveraging advanced human antibody cloning techniques, his group successfully isolated these pathogenic autoantibodies to elucidate their roles in disease pathogenesis.Beyond his contributions to the study of immune deficiencies, Dr. Ku's research encompasses a broader range of immunological disorders, such as autoimmune kidney diseases, vitiligo, and immunocyte therapy. He is also actively engaged in translational research, with a focus on developing innovative therapeutic strategies for autoimmune diseases.

Julia Kzhyshkowska, PhD, Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, Head of the Department of Innate Immunity and Tolerance, Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Immunology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg. My laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of chronic inflammation and tumor immunity. We investigate signaling, membrane transport, and epigenetic mechanisms that define macrophage phenotypes, functional polarization and plasticity. We analyze pathological functions of macrophages in cancer, diabetes, diabetic vascular complications, and during tissue regeneration. Our recent study demonstrated that hyperglycemia alone, without other metabolic factors, induces inflammatory epigenetic programming of macrophages leading to vascular damage. Our lab has a strong motivation to translate the fundamental findings into clinic. We have developed ex vivo human primary macrophage-based test system for predicting individual patients’ responses to implant materials, and macrophage biomarkers for metastatic processes in cancer. We are working on the identification macrophages subpopulations as therapeutic targets in cardio-metabolic disorders.

Dr. Stephania Libreros is an Assistant Professor at Yale University in the Department of Pathology and a member of the Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program. Her lab focuses on uncovering the biochemical, immunological, and molecular mechanisms that restore tissue-specific resolution of inflammation following pathological insults and seeks to understand why these processes sometimes fail, resulting in chronic inflammation or cancer. A central focus of her research is the elucidation of lipid and lipid mediator signaling pathways that regulate myeloid cell function and heterogeneity, and how these pathways govern the resolution phase of inflammation. Dr. Libreros earned her Ph.D. in Immunology, where she studied how pre-existing inflammation drives tumor metastasis and myeloid-induced inflammation. She then completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University with Professor Charles N. Serhan, working on the structural elucidation of novel molecules and networks that control the resolution of inflammation. Her research explored how these pathways could lead to a new class of therapeutics by harnessing the body's natural ability to resolve inflammation. She has received multiple scientific awards, including the the Eicosanoid Research Foundation Santosh Nigam Outstanding Young Scientist Award, the Early Career Investigator Award from the Society for Leukocyte Biology, and the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00).

Domenico Mavilio, (M.D., Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor of Translational Medicine at the Medical School of University of Milan (Italy) and a Principal Investigator heading the Unit of Clinical and Experimental Immunology at Humanitas Research Hospital (Milan, Italy). Prof. Mavilio’s main scientific interests focus on pathogenesis and therapy of human diseases and his laboratory is currently performing projects of translational immunology investigating on the homeostasis of innate immune cells in human tissues and on their role in the physiopathology of autoimmune disorders, HIV-1 infection and cancer.

Joanna Mikulak, Ph.D., Unit of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, Italy. My primary areas of expertise include human innate immunity, immune-oncology and virology. Currently I focus on innate mechanisms in solid tumors (glioblastoma, colorectal cancer, primary and metastatic liver cancers and gynecological tumors) and viral infections (HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2) mainly defined by Natural Killer (NK) cells and unconventional gamma delta (γδ) T lymphocytes, in order to dissect the complexity of the innate immune system at the single cell resolution (flow cytometry, NGS) and develop novel anti-cancer and anti-viral therapies.

Dr. Radiah C. Minor, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Animal Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Health Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She received a B.S. in Biology from Florida A&M University and earned her PhD from Meharry Medical College after completing her dissertation research project, focused on understanding the role of nuclear factor kappa B/Rel family members in T helper cell differentiation from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Minor trained as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Duke University Medical Center and the Laboratory of Respiratory Biology at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. The long-term goal of the Laboratory of Animal Immune Responses (LAIR) is to identify natural methods that promote positive immune responses and health of animals specifically pigs. Research projects are aimed at investigating the impacts that feed supplements such as oat, yeast culture, probiotics, ginger and Moringa oleifera, make on mucosal immune responses and milk. Radiah is also passionate about increasing enthusiasm for and participation in STEM by underrepresented minorities and women.

Kensuke Miyake, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Institute of Integrated Research, Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan. His research focuses on the immunoregulatory roles of basophils in allergic inflammation. He received his MD in 2014 and PhD in Immunology in 2017 from Tokyo Medical and Dental University under the mentorship of Prof. Hajime Karasuyama. His doctoral and postdoctoral work using murine models uncovered the dual role of basophil-derived IL-4 in both initiating and resolving allergic dermatitis via macrophage modulation. His group also identified a previously unrecognized uni-potent basophil progenitor population—termed “pre-basophils”—using single-cell RNA sequencing. Appointed as Associate Professor in 2024, Dr. Miyake continues to investigate the transcriptomic and functional mechanisms of basophil differentiation and their roles in skin and lung inflammation.

Dr. Ng conducted his PhD study at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. Following his postdoctoral training, Dr Ng joined Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) to establish his own laboratory in 2009. Over the next 13 years, Dr Ng established himself as a leader in the field of myeloid cell biology. His research primarily focuses on unraveling the complexities of myeloid cell ontogeny, cellular behavior, and tissue adaptation. In 2023, Dr. Ng accepted a new position as a Senior Investigator at the Shanghai Immune Therapy Institute, where he also serves as the Director of the Center for Systems Immunology and a Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. Dr Ng’s contributions to the field of immunology research are exemplified by his multiple publications in leading journals such as Science, Science Immunology, Immunity, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Science Advances, Advanced Materials and Nature Protocols. He has also been listed as one of the Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate for 5 consecutive years (2020-2024).

Lucy Ochola, MPhil, Ph.D. Department of Tropical Infectious Diseases, Institute of Primate Research. Her research interest is in infectious diseases, with an emphasis on parasitology (malaria and schistosomiasis), understanding their immunology, disease manifestation and diagnosis in endemic populations. My lab has assessed the impact of helminth infections on candidate HIV, HPV vaccines using preclinical animal models and was able to determine immune correlates of protection. We are currently testing novel malaria drug formulations and diagnostic platforms to aide in the control and management of malaria and schistosomiasis.

Rosana Pelayo. Head of Health Education and Research and Full Professor, Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS). I was awarded the Master and Doctorate in Biomedical Sciences Degrees -Immunology- from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and completed a postdoctoral training at the Immunobiology and Cancer Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. The major interest of my laboratory for past 15 years is the study of early development of blood cells in health and disease, particularly childhood acute leukemias. I currently lead the Oncoimmunology and Cytomics Laboratory on Cancer in Children at IMSS and chair the National Program on Childhood Leukemias, serve as vice-chair of the Education Committee at the International Union of Immunological Societies and as board member of the International Basic Sciences Program, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Distinguished Professor, Fudan University; Assistant Dean (International Collaboration), Human Phenome Institute; Director, Center for Integrative Spatial-Omics Research; Adjunct Professor, Shanghai Cancer Institute. Prof. Qian received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and BSc in Biochemistry from Fudan University, Shanghai. Prior to returning Fudan, he held dual appointments as a Reader (tenured) at the Cancer Center and Reproductive Health Center of the University of Edinburgh, UK. Prof. Qian has a long-standing focus on tumor metastasis and immune microenvironment, elucidated the critical role of macrophages in cancer metastasis and is pioneering the field of metastasis-associated macrophages. Currently, he has published over 40 high-impact academic papers in renowned journals such as Nature, Cell, and Nature Review Immunology, with a total citation over 17,000 and a cumulative impact factor of 360. Among these publications, 9 were rated as highly cited articles by Web of Science. He has led several major research projects, including CRUK CDF and ERC StG etc., with funding over 30 million Chinese Yuan.

Gabriel Rabinovich, Ph.D., Senior Investigator and Director of the Laboratory of Immunopathology at the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IBYME), National Research Council (CONICET), Professor of Immunology at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires and International Member of the National Academy of Science (USA). Our laboratory is interested in understanding the function of glycans and glycan-binding proteins in cellular processes relevant to immune regulation in health and disease. We have demonstrated that galectins, a family of endogenous β-galactoside-binding proteins, can translate glycan-encoded information into novel regulatory programs that control inflammation, suppress autoimmune pathology and allow cancer cells to evade immune responses and promote blood vessel formation. Particularly, we demonstrated that galectin-driven regulatory programs can blunt harmful immune responses by selectively depleting pathogenic T cells, triggering differentiation of tolerogenic dendritic cells and polarizing macrophages/microglia toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Our findings opened new possibilities for development of therapeutic strategies aimed at potentiating antitumor responses and limiting autoimmune inflammation.

Dr. Sheela Ramanathan obtained PhD in immunology from Madurai Kamaraj University in India for the work on immune response towards Mycobacterium leprae antigens in leprosy patients across the disease spectrum. Dr. Ramanathan completed post-doctoral training in pre-clinical disease models of autoimmune uveitis (with Dr. Philippe Druet in Paris) and autoimmune type-1 diabetes (with Dr. Philippe Poussier in Toronto). As an independent researcher at Université de Sherbrooke since 2007, Dr. Ramanathan investigated how GIMAP5 protein controls the activation of T lymphocytes and how Interleukin-15 promotes autoimmune diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis. Currently, Dr. Ramanathan’s research is focussed on understanding the pathogenesis of long COVID and immune response to COVID-19 vaccines in rheumatoid arthritis patients and the elderly population, in close collaboration with other researchers and clinicians at Université de Sherbrooke. Dr. Ramanathan’s research is funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Mirta Schattner, PhD, Professor, University of Buenos Aires, Laboratory of Experimental Thrombosis and Immunobiology of Inflammation, CONICET-Argentina. The research area of my laboratory focuses on the physiopathology of cells of the megakaryocytic lineage with particular interest in their interaction with leukocytes and endothelial cells during inflammatory and infectious states. Our studies have helped to advance knowledge of the intricate relationship between hemostasis and immunity. We have described that megakaryocytes play a role in antiviral defence by both producing and responding to interferon type 1 (IFN) and we have found that IFN-beta is the mediator involved in thrombocytopenia during viral infections. We have also studied in detail the interaction of neutrophils with platelets and have shown that human platelets promote the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps in various human prothrombotic diseases such as diabetes, sepsis, and myeloproliferative neoplasms. We have also shown that platelets orchestrate macrophage effector responses, improving the clinical outcome of sepsis. Our research now focuses on the role of Toll-like receptor activation in stem cells, megakaryocytes, and platelets in regulating megakaryo/thrombopoiesis and their interaction with leukocytes during the inflammatory response.

Jean L. (Labriola) Scholz, Ph.D., Sr. Research Investigator (semi-retired), University of Pennsylvania. My primary research area is the study of B cell development and selection. I assisted with studies to show that systemic BLyS (BAFF) mediates pre-immune B cell homeostasis and transitional B cell selective stringency. Those findings led to one of first papers to show that memory B cells are less reliant on BLyS than are primary B cells. I also collaborated on the discovery of age-associated B cells (also known as Tbet-positive B cells) and in work showing that these cells are antigen-experienced. I am a dedicated biology educator with many years of undergraduate teaching experience and related volunteer work.

Lisa Spencer, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Scientific Director, Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program, Children’s Hospital Colorado. My research is focused on understanding the basic immunobiology of mucosal tissue eosinophils and leveraging this understanding to develop improved eosinophil-modulating therapeutic approaches. Our basic and translational studies utilize human primary cells and patient samples in parallel with mouse models of disease. Our work has contributed seminal findings to the field, including a mechanistic understanding of eosinophil secretion (i.e. piecemeal degranulation and cytolysis), and identification of intrinsic signaling pathways that regulate eosinophil activation, survival and function. Moreover, we provided the first demonstration that resident intestinal eosinophils access luminal antigens in vivo via antigen-specific IgG and eosinophil-expressed low affinity Fcg receptors. Our ongoing work has demonstrated mucosal organ crosstalk along the skin-lung-gut axis dysregulates tissue eosinophils at remote (allergen non-exposed) sites and is defining organ-specific adaptations and functional phenotypes of mucosal tissue eosinophils in health and disease.

Mary M. Stevenson, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University. My research focuses on host-parasite interactions at the immunologic interface in response to malaria and gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes. I identified critical roles for innate immunity involving DC and NK cells and CD4+ Th1 cells and the cytokines IL-12 and IFN-g in controlling acute parasitemia in P. chabaudi AS-infected mice, findings confirmed in human malaria. With McGill colleagues, we identified erythroid-specific genes important in resistance to P. chabaudi AS and immune response genes influencing the development of cerebral malaria in P. berghei ANKA-infected mice. Using state-of-the art approaches, we identified molecules in the excretory-secretory (ES) products of GI nematodes that modulate DC and macrophage function.

Jianbo Sun, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Department of Scientific Research, The First Dongguan Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, China. I received my Ph.D. in Microbiology in 2007 from China Agricultural University, obtained postdoctoral training and worked in Mount Sinai School of Medicine (2008 to 2011) and Columbia University (2011-2016), then moved to Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou (2016-2021) and the current affiliation since 2021. My main research interest focuses on the phenotype, function, regulating mechanism and application of regulatory B cells in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and the mechanism of immune regulation by anti-inflammatory components of Chinese herbal medicine.

My laboratory focuses on discovery of molecular pathways controlling innate immunity, such that this knowledge can be applied to develop anti-inflammatory and anti-infective approaches to combat chronic inflammatory diseases (e.g. chronic liver disease) and acute infectious diseases (e.g. sepsis, Salmonellosis, urinary tract infections). My research program centers on Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) and their roles in inflammation and infection. Current research efforts are concentrated on macrophage immunometabolism; roles of TLR-induced mitochondrial fission and lipid droplets in macrophage biology; TLR-inducible zinc toxicity as an antimicrobial weapon of macrophages; and the roles of the lysine deacetylases HDAC6 and HDAC7 in inflammation and infection.

Kristin Tarbell, PhD. Senior Principal Scientist, Amgen Discovery Research, South San Francisco, CA. I earned my Doctorate in Immunology at Stanford School of Medicine where I studied autoreactive T cells. During my post-doctoral work at Rockefeller University with Dr. Ralph Steinman, we revealed the power of DCs to activate and expand regulatory T cells, and the potency of these DC-activated autoreactive Tregs for blocking autoimmunity. I was then a principal investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), during which time I was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). My research focused on antigen presentation and Tregs in autoimmune diabetes. I then joined Amgen Research in 2017 where I have shifted my focus to immuno-oncology. My group studies how modulation of myeloid cells can contribute to successful cancer immunity.

Shigeharu Ueki, M.D. and Ph.D., Professor in the Department of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Laboratory Medicine at the Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. I completed my PhD at the Akita University (Prof. Junichi Chihara) and worked at Teikyo University School of Medicine (Prof. Ken Ohta) and at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard University (Prof. Peter Weller) before starting my laboratory. Our main research interests are the pathophysiological roles of eosinophil and their application to the clinical testing and treatment of allergic/eosinophilic inflammatory diseases.

My work focuses on the anti-viral immunology, and the HIV and Coronaviruses are mainly involved. In HIV, my team elucidates the host-mediated modulation of HIV latency and acute infection, and we have identified several host factors or cellular signaling pathways for regulating HIV latency, and found that the mucosal mast cell-mediating viral transmission was key route for HIV acute acquisition; we also found that virus-induced mast cell degranulation could cause immunosuppression by modulating the function of dendritic cell and inducing the production of MDSCs. In Coronaviruses, we have defined the role of mast cell in SARS-CoV-2-mediated hyper-inflammation and the followed tissue injury, and we are seeking mast cell-based strategies for treatment of viral inflammation.

Véronique Witko-Sarsat, Director of Research at INSERM (Institut National pour la Santé et la Recherche Médicale) and Group leader in the Department of Immunology, Inflammation and Infection, Cochin Institute, Paris France. My laboratory focuses on neutrophils in autoimmune vasculitis and other chronic inflammatory diseases linked to systemic inflammation. We found neutrophils in autoimmune vasculitis were associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody. We also uncovered a new function for the autoantigen, proteinase 3, in the clearance of apoptotic cells. Proteinase 3 expressed at the surface of apoptotic neutrophils is considered a “danger signal” by macrophages. When the balance between apoptosis and survival is disrupted, it may lead to uncontrolled inflammation. My research shows that cytosolic Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) is a key regulator of this balance. Along those lines, we also have shown that PCNA is linked to the NADPH oxidase and helps to regulate neutrophil activation and, more broadly, inflammation.

PhD, Professor, Principal Investigator, Deputy Dean, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China Dr. Yiyue Zhang currently serves as Vice Chair of the China Zebrafish Society and as a committee member of the Chinese Society for Blood Science. Her research focuses on hematopoietic development and blood-related diseases, with a special interest in the developmental regulation and specific functions of granulocytes in inflammatory contexts. Using zebrafish as a primary model, her group has elucidated the spatiotemporal dynamics and lineage characteristics of eosinophil development. By employing forward and reverse genetics approaches with hematopoietic-deficient zebrafish mutants, they have identified key transcription factors in regulating granulocyte lineage specification, differentiation, and maturation.

Lee-Ann H. Allen, PhD, Professor and Executive Vice President of Research, Texas Biomedical Research Institute. After obtaining a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studying innate immunity as a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University, I spent more than two decades as a faculty member at the University Iowa and then moved to the University of Missouri to be Chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and the George Trimble Endowed Chair for Excellence in Medicine from 2020-2025. In April 2025 I moved to San Antonio Texas to lead research endeavors at an independent, non-profit research institute focused on infectious diseases, Texas Biomed. My research interests include manipulation of human neutrophil and macrophage function by the bacterial pathogens Francisella tularensis and Helicobacter pylori with a focus on neutrophil plasticity and nuclear hypersegmentation, transcriptional and metabolic reprogramming, mechanisms of cell death, phagocytosis, bacterial trafficking, and NADPH oxidase regulation and targeting.

Verónica Azcutia, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Physiology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. I first studied vascular inflammation associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, receiving my doctoral degree in Pharmacology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. During my postdoctoral training in the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Harvard University), my work expanded to the field of vascular inflammation and innate immunity, focusing on the molecular mechanisms regulating leukocyte transendothelial migration at sites of inflammation. Subsequently, as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, I investigated neutrophil transepithelial migration into the gut mucosa, examining their role in the establishment, resolution and repair of intestinal inflammation. In 2023, I joined the Universidad Complutense de Madrid as an Assistant Professor of Physiology, where I continue uncovering the mechanisms that regulate neutrophil migration into the intestinal mucosa and exploring how gut inflammation contributes to chronic systemic inflammation, metabolic disorders and vascular dysfunction, which can lead to the onset of cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Bagaitkar, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Louisville and her postdoctoral training at Washington University in St. Louis. The overarching research goal of the Bagaitkar Laboratory is to understand the induction and manipulation of immune responses at the oral mucosal barrier. Key discoveries from my lab elucidate a novel role of type III interferons in viral-bacterial and epithelial interactions occurring at the oral mucosal barrier and how they impact the development of antiviral immunity. The research projects in the lab are centered around three focus areas. 1) Manipulation of interferon responses by oral bacterial and viral pathogens; 2) NOX2 NADPH oxidase and the regulation of homeostatic immunity.

Arup Banerjee, PhD. Affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, India. My lab focuses on understanding the immune pathogenic mechanisms of vector-borne diseases caused by Flaviviruses. Virus infection modulates the microenvironment, leading to phenotypic and functional changes in the immune cells, thus altering disease outcomes. Currently, we are focusing on the impact of viral infection on neutrophil biology and functions. Depending on neutrophil phenotypes, these cells within any injury site have beneficial and detrimental roles. In our lab, we study the underlying mechanisms of neutrophil heterogeneity that arise during viral infection, their involvement in peripheral and tissue-specific inflammation and their contribution to the disease outcome.

Prosper Boyaka, PhD, Professor and Chair Department of Veterinary Biosciences at The Ohio State University. His primary research focus is on innate responses in mucosal tissues and their regulation of adaptive immune responses to pathogens, allergens and vaccines. His laboratory specializes in the development and characterization of vaccine adjuvants and host responses to injected and non-invasive vaccines given by the oral, nasal, sublingual or epicutaneous routes. Another key area of research is the interplays between mucosal tissues of the gastrointestinal tract and distant mucosal sites such as the airway. These studies explore how intestinal epithelial cells respond to commensal microbes and environmental stimuli, and how these responses shape host responses to infectious agents or the phenotype of non-infectious diseases.

Elsa Bou Ghanem PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Work in my laboratory explores the age-associated changes in innate immune responses that render older adults more susceptible to infections. We are focused on Streptococcus pneumoniae, the leading cause of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in the elderly. We are investigating the role of neutrophils in innate and adaptive immunity. We are studying the role of extracellular adenosine signaling pathways in dysregulated neutrophil antibacterial function and pulmonary recruitment in the context of primary pneumococcal infections and secondary pneumococcal pneumonia following influenza A infection in older hosts. We are also investigating how neutrophils shape the age-driven decline in vaccine efficacy against infection. Our ultimate goal is to use host-targeted approaches to combat infections in older adults.

We are interested in granulocyte transfusions and the current lack of consensus worldwide surrounding the efficacy of this practice to treat neutropenic infections. In this context, we are working towards unlimited production of neutrophils in vitro from hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, to produce a homogeneous human neutrophil product to investigate the impact of various parameters on transfusion success. Using this system, we also study various features of neutrophils, such as metabolism in Barth Syndrome and FcgIIIR-mediated signaling. On the other hand, we recently started investigating active immunity in human breastmilk, and evidenced very significant, leukocyte-specific variations between milk and peripheral blood.

Rommel Chacón-Salinas, Biologist, M.Sc., Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Immunology, National School of Biological Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute (ENCB-IPN), Mexico City, Mexico. My early research was focused on the modulation of the immune response by different Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes, which induced a differential response by macrophages, dendritic and T cells, and how these responses were associated with bacterial virulence. Recently, my research group has focused on mast cell biology, particularly the molecular mechanism involved in mast cell activation during infection with Candida albicans, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Listeria monocytogenes. Furthermore, we found that the sera of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 show increased levels of a mast cell activation marker, suggesting their participation in the exacerbated inflammation observed in COVID-19 patients. Our most recent studies have focused on the drug repurposing of valproic acid as a modulator of mast cell activation. We have noticed that valproic acid interferes with crucial cell signaling pathways during mast cell activation, which could be of potential therapeutic interest when mast cell activation is associated with pathologic inflammation.

Frank Cichocki, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Karolinska Institute. My research is focused on basic and translational human natural killer (NK) cell biology. Our group has basic research interests in the NK cell response to cytomegalovirus (CMV), transcriptional programs that drive NK cell differentiation, and NK cell metabolism. We have shown that NK cells with distinct genome-wide epigenetic signatures and alterations in key signaling molecules arise in response to CMV, and these cells have attributes of immunological memory. We have also developed a platform for generating multiplex engineered NK cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for immunotherapy to treat patients with advanced cancer.

Dr. Sofia de Oliveira, Ph.D. is a leading researcher in neutrophil biology and inflammation, dedicated to unraveling how chronic systemic inflammation like metainflammation and inflammaging shape immune responses and drive disease progression. As an Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with affiliations in the Departments of Developmental and Molecular Biology and Medicine (Hepatology) and member of several Einstein associated centers and institutes, her lab takes a whole-organism approach to study complex scenarios of inflammation, neutrophil biology, metabolism, and tissue homeostasis, with a particular focus on injury, regeneration, and liver disease and cancer. At the heart of her research is the use of advanced live non-invasive imaging and biocomputational analysis to track neutrophil behavior in real time. Her lab combines state-of-the-art high-resolution visualization of neutrophils with functional assays, genetic and pharmacological manipulation, and omics approaches. By leveraging zebrafish models of acute, chronic, and metabolic inflammation, her team can dissect immune mechanisms in vivo, providing unparalleled insights into how inflammation is regulated across different tissues. Dr. de Oliveira’s research mission is to decipher the fundamental principles of neutrophil-driven inflammation and uncover therapeutic targets that improve neutrophil function in diseases, including diabetes, MASLD, and cancer. By integrating cell biology, immunology, and metabolism, her work aims to bridge the gap between basic research and translational medicine, paving the way for novel anti-inflammatory strategies that could improve patient outcomes in chronic inflammatory diseases and reduce complications such impaired wound healing, sepsis, and death. Beyond the lab, Dr. de Oliveira is a passionate mentor and educator, deeply committed to training the next generation of diverse scientists. She plays an active role in international scientific communities, serving on society boards (ZDMS and SLB), organizing research symposia, and championing diversity in STEM. She is also the organizer of the webinar supported by SLB – Building Bridges in Leukocyte Biology. Whether uncovering the hidden intricacies of neutrophil function or fostering collaboration across disciplines, she remains dedicated to pushing the boundaries of inflammation research and translating discoveries into meaningful impact. Her work is not just about understanding how inflammation works—it’s about changing how we treat it.

Alessandra Filardy is a Brazilian immunologist who works as an assistant professor and principal investigator in the Cellular Immunology Laboratory at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Her main research interest is to understand the regulation of cellular immune responses in lung and intestinal mucosae during homeostasis and in inflammatory/infectious disorders. She is a faculty member in two prestigious graduate programs (Microbiology and Immunology and Inflammation) at UFRJ, where she coordinates one of them, trains grad students, and has contributed to more than 50 graduate committees. She is on the board of directors of the Brazilian Society of Immunology (2024-2025) and received several awards and recognitions for her scientific achievements including 2018 BD - SBI Researcher; 2022 National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) Researcher level 2; 2019, 2022 Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) Scientist; 2021 Society for Mucosal Immunology Mentorship Program Grant and 2021 Nature Award for Mentoring in Science – Brazil.

Yifang Gao, PhD, Professor, Organ Transplantation Unit, The first affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. My work focuses on the basic and translational aspects of the immune status in organ immunology, transplantation and cancer. Specifically, our team investigates the roles of innate T cells, including iNKT, MAIT, and γδ T cells, in maintaining health and contributing to disease.

Dr. Gerhard Hildebrandt, MD. is a professor of medicine at University of Missouri. He serves in the role as the Director of the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and Division Chief, Hematology and Medical Oncology. His extensive practice and research focuses on hematologic malignancies and stem cell transplantation including the immunology of transplantation or its complications, particularly in studying the immunopathophysiology of graft versus host disease (GVHD). He has longstanding experience in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and immune effector therapy / CAR T cells. He has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on over 70 clinical trials including multiple initiatives sponsored by numerous national transplant organizations including SWOG, CIBMTR, NMDP and BMT CTN. He has over 100 publications in peer reviewed journals such as Nature Medicine, Blood, BBMT/TCT journal.

Marcelo Hill is MD by training (University of the Republic, Uruguay). He is PhD in Immunology by the Nantes University (France). He is Professor and Head of the Immunology Department at the Faculty of Medicine, University of the Republic, Uruguay. He is also head of the Immunoregulation and Inflammation Laboratory at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay. He is Director of the FOCIS Center of Excellence, Center of Translational Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine and Institut Pasteur de Montevideo. Dr. Hill is also the founder and CSO of ARDAN Pharma.

Dr. Régis Joulia is a Wellcome Trust funded Group Leader at the National Heart & Lung Institute (NHLI). He joined Imperial in July 2021 after 4 years of post-doctoral research at the William Harvey Research Institute, QMUL, in the group of Prof. Sussan Nourshargh. Prior to this, he was awarded a PhD in immunology from the University of Toulouse Paul Sabatier III under the supervision of Dr. Eric Espinosa and Dr. Salvatore Valitutti in 2016. His research is mainly focused on the impact of inflammation on tissue remodelling and blood vessel organisation. His lab is particularly interested in deciphering the role of mast cells and pericytes in blood vessel functions.

Ronan Kapetanovic, Ph.D., Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel. My research focuses on host-pathogen interactions and how our immune system (macrophages in particular) recognises and eliminates microbes. Using a combination of molecular biology, proteomics and microscopy, I characterise new antimicrobial and inflammatory pathways in macrophages, examining in particular the role of 1) histone deacetylases (HDACs) and 2) metal ions toxicity. Ultimately, my research goal is to discover new mechanisms that control inflammation and antimicrobial responses, which is of paramount importance in the context of multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Peter A Keyel, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. My research focuses on the control of inflammation by macrophages. Macrophages resist bacterial pore-forming toxins, yet rely on endogenous pore-forming toxins to execute programmed cell death when needed. Pore formation in the cell is countered by membrane repair. My lab focuses on mechanisms of cellular resistance to pore forming toxins. We identified intrinsic repair—the energy independent shedding of toxin-laden microvesicles as one membrane repair mechanism, and MEK as primary signaling pathway for energy-dependent repair. A second focus of the lab is determining the structure and function of the serum endonuclease Dnase1L3, which is secreted by macrophages and dendritic cells. Loss of Dnase1L3 activity causes autoimmunity. My lab focuses on understanding the structure/function of Dnase1 family members to develop Dnase1L3 replacement therapy as a treatment for lupus.

Sachin Kumar, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Department of Pharmacology. My research aims to answer fundamental questions about the regulation of the neutrophil and hematopoietic stem cell responses in steady state and inflammatory conditions. Over the past 18 years, our work has defined regulation of various neutrophil function ranging from phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species, neutrophil extracellular traps and chemotaxis. Our research identified regulation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells via mitochondrial signalling during bone marrow regeneration. We recently investigated demonstrated imaging and computational algorithm for efficient identification and quantification of neutrophil extracellular traps in contrast to apoptosis. Moreover, we have identified the neutrophil heterogeneity under steady state and established link with inflammatory conditions. We have also developed novel understanding of neutrophil pyroptosis and metabolic regulation.

James A. Lederer, MS, PhD., Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. My research program addresses how traumatic injuries activate, modulate, and influence the immune system and immunity. We develop immunotherapies to protect critically-injured people from developing infections and complications from trauma. We are also developing immune targeted medical countermeasures to help protect individuals that may be exposed to radiation or radiation combined traumatic injuries following accidental or intentional radionuclear events. Due to the complex nature of trauma immunology, we use systems immunology approaches like CyTOF mass cytometry to study the cells and mediators of the injury, radiation, and infection response. Overall, advances made by this research has contributed to the concept that traumatic injuries alter immune homeostasis, which has provided us and others with insights for developing novel interventional therapies that could be used to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with trauma.

My lab is interested in regulatory immunity that suppresses autoimmune disease, specifically autoimmune uveitis. My research program is focused on how the ocular immune response can be utilized to suppress inflammation. We have identified a systemic regulatory immune response that provides resistance to relapsing uveitis. This regulatory immunity requires a suppressor macrophage and regulatory T cells to function. The suppressor macrophages require the melanocortin 5 receptor to express ectoenzymes that convert ATP into adenosine. T cell stimulation through the adenosine 2A receptor induces Treg activity. Because the eye is clear we can non-invasively monitor the immune response and visualize fluorescently labeled Treg cells as they emerge in the eye over the course of disease. Importantly, we have shown that these receptors are present on PBMCs from human uveitis patients and is now investigating if it is possible to induce regulatory activity through stimulation of this novel pathway.

Craig Lefort, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Research, Rhode Island Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. My research focus is on understanding the mechanisms of neutrophil trafficking and effector function, in health and disease. Specifically, we have studied the regulation of integrin-dependent leukocyte adhesion to understand how pathophysiologic conditions (e.g., trauma, hemorrhagic shock) alter neutrophil recruitment and render the host susceptible to secondary infection. We are also interested in identifying novel approaches to modulate neutrophil function against microbes.

Thorsten Maretzky, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine at the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and an Associate Member of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. My laboratory’s long-term goal is to understand how fundamental functions of metalloproteases are dysregulated during inflammatory diseases. For over 15 years I’ve focused on the function of a group of metalloproteases termed ADAMs in several in vivo disease models. In addition to a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, I’ve had post-doctoral training at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University, where I had the opportunity to make fundamental contributions to understanding the regulation of ADAMs. Over the course of my career I’ve published more than 30 scholarly articles in journals such as Science, PNAS, and Nature Communications. For the past couple of years, I’ve mainly focused on the functional characterization of iRhom2 in regulating innate immune responses and intestinal microbiota.

Dr. Mayer-Barber received her diploma and PhD from the University of Würzburg, Germany. In her Ph.D. thesis work, carried out at the Trudeau Institute, NY, she specialized on multi-parameter flow-cytometry analysis of pulmonary CD4 effector T cells after viral and parasitic infections and studied immune cell-derived interferon responses in vivo. She joined NIH as postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (NIAID). There she studied pulmonary innate effector cells, such as inflammatory monocytes and dendritic cells, and delineated the role of inflammatory mediators including IL-1, type I Interferons and prostaglandins in host resistance to tuberculosis. Dr. Mayer-Barber was awarded the Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator position in the NIAID Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases in 2015. Her work is focused on innate immune effector cells, inflammatory cytokines and lipid mediators as targets for improved adjuvant design, and host-directed therapies for TB and other lung infections.

Helen McGettrick, PhD, MSc, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. My research focuses on understanding the endogenous regulatory pathways controlling leukocyte trafficking in health, with age and in disease. Using 3-D multi-cellular in vitro models, my research team revealed that human stromal cells from a variety of healthy tissues dampen vascular endothelial cell cytokine-responses to limit leukocyte recruitment from flow, and thus moderate an inflammatory response. This immunosuppressive response is lost when stromal cells from patients with chronic inflammation (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis) are incorporated – allowing uncontrolled leukocyte infiltration that drives disease pathology. More recently we identified a brand new endogenous regulatory pathway (adiponectin-PEPITEM pathway) that acts to limit T-cell trafficking into inflamed sites and is dysregulated in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and with age. We also shown sexual dimorphism in leukocyte trafficking with age, both at baseline and in response to acute inflammation.

Rossana C. N. Melo, MS, PhD. Professor of Cell Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil. I received postdoctoral training from Harvard Medical School and held several visiting scientist positions at Beth Israel Deaconess Center and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA. My research studies aim to understand how cells from the immune system respond to inflammatory situations and infectious diseases. My lab explores basic mechanisms of vesicular transport, cell secretion, endocytosis, and signaling pathways associated with inflammation as well as host-pathogen-microenvironment interactions. My expertise includes the application of advanced imaging techniques, such as nanotechnologies and 3D electron microscopy, to study the architecture and functions of immune cells, especially eosinophils, in the context of health and disease.

Dr. Menezes has been interested in understanding leukocyte biology, specifically how leukocytes migrate to sites of cell death and how sterile inflammation damages tissues. During his Masters and PhD, he investigated mechanisms involved in leukocyte chemotaxis and started to work on visualization of leukocyte trafficking in vivo, and this has been instrumental in the setting up of in vivo imaging techniques in our university in Brazil. As a principal investigator, he is focused in translating data gathered in his career to understand how immune cells exacerbate organ injury during acute liver failure. These data have been published in Journals of high impact factor, including Gastroenterology, Journal of Hepatology, Cell Reports, Hepatology and Nature Protocols. Using experimental models, his group has elucidated novel therapeutic alternatives to treating acute liver failure. For his contributions in the intravital microscopy field, his lab was honored as a “Nikon Center of Excellence” in 2016 (the only one in South America). In 2016, he described a new cell lineage in the liver, and published the mechanisms involved in macrophage education in the liver and how new liver macrophages and dendritic cells become functional phagocytes after chemical cell ablation in the liver, a situation that has a very relevant medical impact. Also, we are currently describing for the first time the differences in the immune and metabolic systems in newborns in comparison to adults, and how metabolic diseases in children can affect their immune system forever. His data are now being used as an experimental platform to investigate the impacts of malnutrition, obesity and several diseases in children and adults.

Mehrnaz Mesdaghi M.D., Ph.D., Associate professor of Immunology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. I received my medical degree and my Ph.D. degree in immunology from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2002 and 2010, respectively. My work focuses on diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency disorders and allergies. Besides, my group is interested in eosinophil biology. We are trying to find how hemostatic and inflammatory eosinophils can be differentiated. We are also studying eosinophil gastrointestinal disorders and aim to improve the diagnostic guideline for this group of disorders.

My contribution in research has mainly been in two fields, chromatin biology and ageing, both of which involve an aspect of generating resources for the community. As a postdoc, I managed the modENCODE Fly Chromatin project which is a resource many researchers still use to date, which is composed of epigenomic (ChIP-seq) data, specifically of histone modifications. My group has contributed towards understanding how chromatin biology dysregulation contributes in various diseases. Utilising single cell technologies from early days, my research team has been building the Mukin (germ-free) Mouse Ageing Atlasin through a large collaborative effort. This atlas is composed of single cell RNA-seq and single cell ATAC-seq datasets from young and old, with and without microbiota (unpublished work), which represents a functional atlas to gain insights into how the microbiota modulates cellular ageing trajectory. My laboratory generates high quality single cell datasets as well as carry out advanced bioinformatics analyses to extract insightful biology.

Dr. Kar Muthumani is a distinguished scientist at Merck & Co., Inc., with extensive experience in translational research, particularly in synthetic nucleic acid technology for vaccine and immunotherapy development for infectious diseases and cancer. He has led a research laboratory at The Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where his team developed DNA-based vaccines against diseases like CHIKV, MERS, Zika, Nipah, POWV, MAYV, and SARS-CoV-2. Notably, his vaccines for MERS and Zika, were the first to enter clinical testing. Dr. Muthumani has authored 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles and holds several patents. His work has earned numerous awards, including the Young Scientist Award at the Nobel Symposium on Global HIV Therapeutics and the Young Investigator Award from the International Cytokine Society. His research has significantly contributed to advancing vaccine and immunotherapy strategies for a range of public health threats. Beyond research, Dr. Muthumani is committed to mentoring future scientists, driving innovation in the biomedical sciences. His dedication to addressing public health challenges solidifies him as a leader in the quest for improved therapeutics against infectious diseases and cancer.

After graduating from the Nagasaki University School of Medicine in 1986, I have accumulated clinical experience and built a career as a hematologist. In particular, I have been involved in the clinical practice and research of hematological malignancies and hematopoietic disorders caused by immune abnormalities. Since 2002, I have served as a lecturer and then an associate professor in the Transfusion and Cell Therapy Unit at Nagasaki University Hospital, where I have been engaged in the examination and management of transfusion medicine and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, research and development of novel cell and regenerative medicine, and examination and research of organ transplantation immunology. Since 2023, I have been serving as the director of Department of Clinical Laboratory at National Hospital Organization Nagasaki Medical Center, where I am responsible for the overall management of clinical examinations while continuing my research in hematology, cell therapy, and transplantation medicine.

Jinbong Park, M.D. (M.D. in Korean Medicine), Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. I completed a Bachelor’s in Korean Medicine at Kyung Hee University and Master’s and Ph.D. in Science in Korean Medicine at the same University. After completing my postdoctoral research at Dr. Carl J. Hauser and Dr. Kiyoshi Itagaki’s lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, I joined Kyung Hee University as a faculty member. Our work focuses on the role of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, the post-traumatic immune suppression, which is closely related to DAMP-derived neutrophil dysfunction, is another major project of our lab. We also try to understand the precise role of neutrophils in the pathophysiology of various diseases to utilize neutrophils and neutrophils-related pathways as therapeutic targets.

Dr. Mark T. Quinn received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Physiology from the University of California, San Diego and worked on defining the role of oxidized low density lipoprotein in monocyte/macrophage chemotaxis during atherosclerosis, including providing the first data demonstrating that oxidized lipoproteins release lyso-phosphatidylcholine that serves as a chemoattractant to recruit monocytes to sites of atheroma formation, supporting the oxidized-LDL hypothesis of atherogenesis. Since that time, his research has focused on studying inflammatory disease for over 34 years, and he established a research program on leukocyte biochemistry and immunopharmacology. As a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute and subsequently as a faculty member at Montana State University, he performed studies investigating the composition and assembly of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase and identified a novel regulatory GTPase involved in NADPH oxidase regulation. In addition, he performed extensive work characterizing intracellular signaling events associated with phagocyte activation during inflammation. In more recent work, the Quinn lab has performed studies on innate immune cells, host defense mechanisms, and pharmacological effects of immunomodulatory compounds, including essential oils. Current research is focused on the identification and characterization of synthetic and natural compounds with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activity. Research on essential oils from a number of medicinal plants has resulted in the identification of immunomodulatory activity and the characterization of individual compounds from essential oils that have specific and novel effects on neutrophil function.

Dr. Xianwen Ren’s research interest focuses on developing effective mathematical models and algorithms to solve immunological questions based on omics data. He graduated in Nankai University in 2004 and got bachelor degrees in biology and mathematics. In 2010, he graduated from Academy of Mathematics and Systems Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and got a PhD degree in operation research and cybernetics. Then he joined Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences as assistant and associate professor, where he focused on developing algorithms for accurate and efficient diagnosis of viral infection based on metagenomics sequencing data. His research achievements were awarded the 1st class Prize of Scientific and Technological Progress by Ministry of Education, China. In 2016, he joined BIOPIC, Peking University and focused on developing mathematical models and algorithms to employ scRNA-seq data to answer tumor immunological questions, and was awarded the 1st class Prize of Natural Sciences by the Beijing government. In 2021, he joined Changping Laboratory and focused on developing mathematical models and algorithms to integrate spatial transcriptomics and scRNA-seq data to understand immune mechanisms underlying infection. He has published more than 60 papers in Cell, Cancer Cell, Nature, Nature Medicine, Cell Research, Nature Communications, Genome Biology, Nucleic Acids Research, etc. and serves as reviewers and editors for multiple academic journals.

Carlos Rosales, B.Sc. (biochemistry), M.Sc. (pharmaceutical chemistry), Ph.D. (immunology); The Biomedical Research Institute of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Working at The Wistar Institute with monoclonal antibodies my interest for immunology developed. This led me to Washington University in St. Louis where I learned about the central role of neutrophils in innate immunity. I returned to UNAM in 1995 as an assistant professor and was promoted to professor in 2009. My research has focused on the cellular functions initiated by antibodies, particularly phagocytosis by neutrophils. My work has contributed to understanding the signaling pathways of Fc receptors, demonstrating that each Fc receptor leads to particular cell responses. In our studies about neutrophil-mediated antimicrobial activity, we have also shown that neutrophil extracellular traps are a fundamental mechanism against protozoan parasites such as Entamoeba histolytica. More recently, we have made contributions to studies of neutrophil phenotypic plasticity by characterizing low-density neutrophils (LDN) in healthy individuals and showing that this subpopulation of neutrophils is elevated in systemic inflammation associated with obesity.

Tamás Röszer, P.D., Ph.D., Senior Clinical Research Scientist; Head, Research Division of Pediatric Obesity, Institute of Pediatrics, University of Debrecen, Hungary; University Lecturer, Institute of Neurobiology, Ulm University, Germany. Field of research is immunometabolism, endocrinology and adipose tissue biology. My research laboratory aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of pediatric obesity, exploring early prognostic markers and prevention-, or treatment strategies of obesity in the childhood. We are pioneering in understanding the role of breast milk-derived lipid molecules in the early life determination of energy expenditure and adipose tissue expansion. We are also interested in the perinatal development of adipose tissue macrophages and the endocrine signal mechanisms that control macrophage number and activation in the adipose tissue.

Amali E. Samarasinghe, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. My research focuses on airway immunology, particularly the non-canonical roles of eosinophils during respiratory viral and bacterial infections. My lab was at the leading edge of exploring complex immune responses in the lungs and was first to build and use mouse models of asthma and influenza co-morbidity. Currently, our lab is using multi-omics profiling in mouse and human model systems to define cellular and molecular mechanisms governing host defense and lung inflammation. In addition to my research, I am an active member in several scientific societies, including the Society for Leukocyte Biology, and engage in scientific development and supporting trainees in mucosal immunology and pulmonary infection research.

Leopoldo Santos-Argumedo, Ph.D. MSc, Professor and Head, Department for Molecular Biomedicine, Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Cinvestav-IPN), Mexico City, Mexico. My research interest is studying B lymphocytes' activation, maturation, and differentiation mechanisms in humans and mice. In recent years our work has focused on searching for the role of class I myosins, emphasizing the emerging role of these molecular motors in the functions of the immune response. The laboratory has analyzed the molecular mechanisms in human primary immunodeficiencies for over a decade. More recently, we have begun studying the colostrum microbiota and its association with IgA, looking for how these antibodies can impact the establishment of the newborn's intestinal microbiota.

C. Henrique Serezani, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Serezani is also the Associate Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine, Associate Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology, and co-director of the Initiative to Maximize Student Diversity and Development (IMSD). He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Michigan and did his postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan. From 2012-2016, he was an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine. He published over 90 papers in reputable journals. His lab has been funded for nearly 20 years. Serezani's lab studies how phagocytes affect tissue injury during systemic (sepsis) and localized (skin and lung) infections in people with and without immune deficiencies and chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes. His lab studies lipid mediators in phagocyte antimicrobial effector function and uses host-derived drug repurposing to treat antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Serezani's lab also studies immunometabolism and epigenetic modifications that cause exaggerated inflammatory responses and increased infection risk in preexisting conditions.

Carlos Silvestre-Roig, Ph.D., Professor at the Institute of Experimental Pathology at the University of Münster (Germany). My work has been centered on understanding the pathophysiology of neutrophil-driven cytotoxicity, and how it fuels inflammation in the context of chronic vascular diseases. I am interested in identifying the mechanisms controlling neutrophil activation and the release of neutrophil extracellular traps driver of disease progression. Currently, my work also aims to define the importance of cell functional heterogeneity in neutrophil pathogenic functions, with a particular interest in studying how it is modulated by intrinsic factors such as cell maturation or ontogeny, as well as environmental such as metabolic, neuronal, or tissue-associated factors.

Laura M. Sly, Ph.D., Professor at the University of British Columbia and Principal Investigator at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology. Our laboratory is really interested in identifying and validating novel therapeutic strategies and targets for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. To do so, we study foundational mechanisms of inflammation with specific interests in macrophages and cell signalling pathways that contribute to innate-immune-mediated inflammation. We have developed a novel mouse model of Crohn’s disease-like intestinal inflammation, which we use to test novel therapeutic approaches that we identify.

Markus Sperandio, M.D., Professor of Physiology, Institute for Cardiovascular Physiology and Pathophysiology, Walter Brendel Center for Experimental Medicine, Biomedical Center (BMC), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. Germany. I earned my medical doctoral degree at the Free University Berlin, Germany, then completed a clinical residency in pediatrics and neonatology. My interest in neutrophil biology started during a postdoctoral fellowship in Klaus Ley's lab, at that time at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA, where I worked on the molecular mechanisms of neutrophil recruitment into inflamed tissue using intravital microscopy and focusing on posttranslational glycosylation of selectin ligands. Back in Germany, I moved to Munich where I expanded my research work triggered by my clinical background and a short lab visit in Uli von Andrian's laboratory at Harvard to the fetus studying the ontogeny and maturation of neutrophil (and platelet) function during fetal life in mouse and man. In addition, I became interested in how danger signals influence neutrophil recruitment.

Philipp studied molecular biology at the University of Vienna, Austria and performed his PhD in immunology and allergy with Erika Jensen-Jarolim at the Medical University of Vienna. His passion for type 2 immunity and mast cell biology led him to Stephen Galli’s lab at Stanford University, USA. After this PostDoc, Philipp returned to Austria to join Sylvia Knapp at CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna for a PostDoc on infectious diseases. Today, Philipp is associate (Ap.) professor and group leader at the Medical University of Vienna. Major research interests of his lab include the interplay between infections and type 2 immune responses and the biological functions of type 2 immune-associated granulocytes, such as mast cells and eosinophils.

Studies in the Sumagin laboratory use biochemical and molecular techniques, advanced intravital imaging approaches and in vitro/in vivo injury models to investigate mechanisms by which innate immune cells, namely neutrophil and macrophages contribute to resolution of inflammation, epithelial injury and carcinogenesis in the gastrointestinal tract. Immune cells are critical for host defense, however, dysregulated immune cell infiltration and activity in inflamed mucosa leads to significant alterations in tissue homeostasis, underlying many pathological disorders, including but not limited to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Thus, Dr. Sumagin’s lab is particularly interested in studying leukocyte trafficking across the endothelial and epithelial barriers under conditions of inflammation and how this impacts cellular function. Among others Dr. Sumagin investigates how neutrophils and macrophages impact organization of the cell cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix, cell-to-cell adhesions, endothelial/epithelial barrier function, cellular regeneration and an induction of genomic instability due to accumulation of DNA damage. Recent and ongoing studies from the Sumagin lab recognize both detrimental and beneficial contributions of innate immune cells to mucosal injury resolution and carcinogenesis, and so the goal of Dr. Sumagin’s work is to better understand and define the underlying mechanisms for these opposing immune effector functions and identify new ways to improve resolution of mucosal inflammation and prevent carcinogenesis and colon cancer progression.

Yoshimasa Tanaka received his Ph.D. from Hokkaido University in Japan in 1992. He then moved to Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA, as a post-doc and identified isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate as the first structurally‒defined antigens for human γδ T cells in Professor Barry R. Bloom’s lab in 1995. He went back to Japan and studied on cancer immunotherapy harnessing innate immune cells, such as γδ T cells and NK cells, and PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors at Kyoto University. He established monoclonal antibodies specific for mouse and human PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 in 2000, and demonstrated that PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors had curative potential in mice and humans in collaboration with Professor Tasuku Honjo at Kyoto University in 2002. He moved to Nagasaki University in 2012 and has studied on cancer immunotherapy using PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors and IL-18. He is currently Distinguished Professor and Director of Center for Medical Innovation, Nagasaki University.

Harry E. Taylor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology at SUNY Upstate Medical University. I received my B.S. from Morehouse College and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The current research efforts of my lab aim to advance our understanding of the interplay between HIV, host metabolism, innate immunity, and inflammation in the context of both acute and chronic infection. Our research informs two strategies that will ameliorate the burden of comorbidities in people living with HIV (PLWH): 1) Functional HIV cure strategies that target the virus-host metabolism interface and 2) Elimination of chronic inflammation in PLWH by modulation of innate immune sensing and metabolic signaling pathways.

Dr. Andrew Teo is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Respiratory and Infectious Diseases, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne, where my research focused on understanding functional antibodies as protective correlates in clinical malaria. My current research integrates in vitro models, animal studies, and clinical samples to investigate neutrophil-mediated immunopathology in infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on dengue, malaria, and respiratory pathogens. I aim to advance our understanding of neutrophil biology during infection and identify novel therapeutic targets that can be translated into clinical applications.

Marcus Thelen, Ph.D., retired group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Università della Svizzera italiana in Bellinzona, Switzerland and Professor emeritus at the University of Bern, Switzerland. I first studied biochemistry in Germany and received my Ph.D. from the University of Bern, Switzerland in 1985. As postdoc in Bern and New York, my interests focused on signal transduction and inflammation. In 1992, I started my own research group in Bern, working on molecular mechanisms of signal transduction in leukocytes and focusing on PI 3-kinase-dependent pathways and chemokine-mediated receptor activation. In 2000, I moved to Bellinzona to run the Laboratory of Signal Transduction at the IRB. My main research interests are the chemokine system in health and disease, with a particular focus on atypical chemokine receptors.

Clément Thomas, Ph.D., group leader, Department of Cancer Research, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg, Luxembourg. I received my Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Strasbourg. Over the last 15 years, my group has developed extensive knowledge and expertise in the mechanisms regulating actin cytoskeleton organization and dynamics, as well as in live cell imaging approaches. My research is centered on the role of the actin cytoskeleton in cancer progression, with a focus on actin-driven tumor immune evasion mechanisms. Recently, my group revealed that cancer cells can quickly remodel their actin cytoskeleton in response to cytotoxic lymphocyte attack and thereby escape from killing. Our research points out that the actin cytoskeleton is a major point of convergence for multiple immune evasion mechanisms and a promising therapeutic point of intervention to restore an effective anti-tumor immune response in patients.

David Underhill got his Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Physiology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1995. Following postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University and the University of Washington, Dr. Underhill joined the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle in 2000. In 2005 he moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he is currently Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, and the Janis and William Wetsman Family Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. His work focuses on understanding how the body recognizes bacterial and fungal microbes in order to mount immune responses that are either inflammatory and protective against infection or tolerant and permissive to commensal microbes.

Vidula Vachharajani MD FCCP FCCM, Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and a Director of Translational Research in Critical Care Medicine, is a Critical Care Physician-Scientist. She is NIH funded to study sepsis and septic shock, the leading causes of death in hospitalized patients the US. Her research focuses on the immuno-metabolic drivers of early pro-inflammatory followed by late/mixed pro- and anti-inflammatory response in sepsis. Specifically, her research studies the role of Sirtuins in driving the immuno-metabolic switch during the transition from early to late sepsis. Sepsis-outcomes are largely dependent upon the co-morbidities of the patients. Her current projects focus on the effect of obesity and alcohol abuse disorder, the two common co-morbidities in critically ill.

Eduardo Vadillo Ph.D. MSc, Laboratory of Migration and Metastasis, Oncology Research Unit, Oncology Hospital, National Medical Center, Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS), Mexico City. During my training, I studied the role of different actin-binding molecules and GTPase deactivators in the context of neutrophil diapedesis. Currently, my research interests focus on deciphering the role of neutrophils in solid tumor progression. I am interested in how the communication among tumoral and stromal cells with neutrophils influences their phenotype and function. My laboratory also studies the mechanisms circulating tumor cells (CTC) employ to metastasize.

Bruce Walcheck, Ph.D., Professor, University of Minnesota. St. Paul, Minnesota. My research is focused on leukocyte receptor function and regulation. The cell surface density of various receptors expressed by leukocytes and factors they release are regulated by ectodomain shedding, a process that is in large part mediated by A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinases (ADAMs). For instance, we have shown that ADAM17 regulates the cell surface density of certain adhesion molecules on neutrophils and endothelial cells that are critical for neutrophil influx into sites of inflammation. By targeting ADAM17 during bacterial infection, including sepsis, we have shown that this can enhance neutrophil recruitment to sites of infection and bacterial clearance, while reducing damaging systemic inflammation. Another area of focus is natural killer (NK) cells, which play an important role in tumor immunosurveillance. By manipulating the shedding of cell surface receptors on these cells, we can bolster their anti-tumor activities, including antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and cytokine production.

Jenora T. Waterman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, Director of the Applied Science and Technology Ph.D. Program, principal investigator of the Respiratory Biology and Toxicology Laboratory, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Dr. Waterman’s team studies molecular mechanisms of airway epithelium injury and repair. Her lab investigates the molecular basis of interactions between the respiratory epithelium, macrophages and other immune cell types in response to environmental and occupational exposures in agriculture, i.e., organic dust from swine production facilities. Her team developed a novel indoor-outdoor pig model for investigating agriculture-related pulmonary diseases, particularly how exposure to organic dust modulates oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling pathways that trigger initiation of pathological features common to chronic bronchitis.

Elizabeth Wohlfert, PhD, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Education, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. My laboratory focuses on the balance between protective immunity, chronic infection and immune regulation. We examine this balance between the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii and its natural intermediate host the mouse. We are investigating how this infection persists in the host and alters the ability of the mouse to move by impacting the skeletal muscle. Our work explores how many immune cells are impacted, namely T regulatory cells and macrophages and how these cells interact with the stromal cells of the muscle. We also investigate the infection while it transits through the gastrointestinal tract and the long-term effects of this acute infection on the host. Our ultimate goal is to better understand the host-pathogen interactions and how chronic infection and inflammation impact this tissue that is required not only for locomotion but also metabolism.

Professor Chun Kwok WONG, PhD, FRSB (UK), is currently Professor at Department of Chemical Pathology, Director of Institute of Chinese Medicine and Assistant Director of State Key Laboratory of Research on Bioactivities and Clinical Applications of Medicinal Plants, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. My immunology research focus on the elucidation of cytokine/chemokine network and intracellular signal transduction mechanisms of immune effector cells including eosinophils, basophils and dendritic cells in inflammatory diseases, with recent emphasizing in immunoregulatory cytokines in allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases. I also work on the immunomodulatory, anti-tumor and anti-allergic activities of traditional Chinese medicine. I have published more than 280 refereed papers in international journals.

Connie Wong, PhD, Associate Professor, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases at Department of Medicine, Monash University. My team's research focuses on how ischemic stroke impairs peripheral immune cell function and barriers to contribute to the development of stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP). We discovered that stroke-induced activation of the sympathetic nervous system impairs systemic immunity and facilitates the translocation of gut-derived bacteria into the lung to cause SAP. Using intravital microscopy, we revealed pulmonary neutrophil behaviour and function are altered after stroke, a phenotype that is further exacerbated with aging, explaining why aged individuals show increased risk to SAP clinically.

Wilson Wong, Ph.D., Head of Structural Biology of Inflammation and Cancer, Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases, Hudson Institute of Medical Research. My research focuses on characterising the structural biology of protein-nucleic acid complexes of the inflammasomes and telosome. We are interested in the inflammasome activation mechanisms and ways by which inflammasome sensors detect viral nucleic acids during viral infections. I have made important contributions to the understanding of malaria parasite blood stage biology. These include elucidating the structure and functional mechanism of the malaria parasite invasion ligand Rh5-CyRPA-Ripr complex and the mode of ribosome inhibition by anti-malarials.

Peng Xiao, Ph.D., Associated Professor in Zhejiang University School of Medicine. My research focuses on the functional regulation of innate immune cells, particularly macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the context of cancer and inflammation. I received my doctoral degree in Zhejiang University Institute of Immunology, then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Harvard Medical School. In recent years we identified several new molecules that play crucial roles in regulating the functions of tumor-associated macrophages or colonic macrophages such as SHP2, IL-33, and FBXW7. At present, our lab aims to combine basic research and translational medicine in order to find new therapeutic targets in the immunotherapy of cancer or intestinal inflammation.

Ruidong Xue, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. Dr. Xue obtained his PhD from Peking University. After a short exchange in UCL, he served as a junior investigator in Peking University First Hospital. He is now a principal investigator with multiple affiliations in Peking University, including YunnanBaiyao Medical Research Centre, International Cancer Institute, and the First Hospital. He is also a member of State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology. Research in the Xue lab focuses on using cutting-edge sequencing technologies, including single cell sequencing and spatial omics, to perform big-data and bioinformatics driven oncology studies. We covered topics including tumor heterogeneity, tumor microenvironment, and their crosstalk, with a particular interest in neutrophils. Dr. Xue published numerous research papers, including Nature (2024, 2022), Cancer Cell (2024, 2019), and J Exp Med (2025). His work has been selected as Cell Press Paper of the Year China and Top Ten Advances in Bioinformatics in China.

Lei-Miao Yin, M.D., Professor of molecular biology at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. My research focuses on the regulation mechanism of actin binding proteins in asthma and the development of therapy based on complementary & alternative medicines, such as acupuncture. Recent works in my group have shown that actin binding proteins in airway smooth muscle cells and leukocytes may be novel therapeutic targets for treating asthma.

Wenwei Yin, Ph.D., Professor at Institute for Viral Hepatitis, Chongqing Medical University and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. My research interests include 1) studying the immunological aspects, molecular pathogenesis, and therapeutic targets of liver diseases and 2) exploring how NK cells respond to viral infection and tumor development.

Jian Zhang, PhD, Professor, Institute of Immunopharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan-City, China. My laboratory focuses on the hepato-immunology and tumor immunology. Our studies demonstrated that exosomes mediate hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission and NK-cell dysfunction, and identified miR-146a negatively regulates NK cell functions via STAT1 signaling. We identified HBsAg downregulates STAT3 in NK cells, resulting the decrease of NKp46 transcription and STING associated activation of NK cells in chronic HBV infection. We demonstrated chronic HBV infection-induce immune tolerance can be overcome by Poly I:C-based rHBVvac therapeutic vaccine that promotes the generation of HBV-specific CD8+ effector memory T cells. We identified hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-educated macrophages promote epithelial-mesenchymal transformation via Wnt2b/β-catenin/c-Myc signaling and reprogramming glycolysis, and SALL4-mediated upregulation of exosomal miR-146a-5p drives T-cell exhaustion by M2 tumor-associated macrophages in HCC. We have established several cytokine gene (such as IL-15 and IFN-a) modified NK cell lines, and demonstrated these gene-modified NK cells display augmented anti-tumor effects.

Shuang Zhang, PhD, head of the Embryo Implantation and Placentation of Key Laboratory for Major Obstetric Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. Our laboratory focuses on the intricate dynamics of embryo implantation and placental development, and delves into the core molecular mechanisms governing the interaction between embryos and the uterine environment. We also investigate the pathogenic mechanisms, and drug resistance mechanisms of gynecological cancers including endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer. We have established organoid biobanks covering a wide spectrum of reproductive systems and related disease. Our recent study successfully established novel multi-cellular, functional placenta villi organoids containing stromal immune cells from preeclampsia placentas. In addition to these efforts, we are actively engaged in developing new Immune therapy combinations for gynecological cancers. Leveraging genetically defined organoid platforms, we seek to transform the landscape of cancer treatment by tailoring therapies to individual patients.

Xuewei Zhu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine-Molecular Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest School of Medicine. My research goal is to identify the molecular and metabolic mechanisms underlying the anti- and pro-inflammatory activation of innate immune cells (particularly macrophages) and the pathogenesis of acute and chronic metabolic diseases. I am very interested in exploring the subcellular organelle-specific metabolic processes and signaling in monocytes/macrophages in response to inflammatory and metabolic stresses using interdisciplinary approaches, including molecular biology, immunology, and multi-omics techniques. I have authored more than 40 peer-reviewed research articles in high-impact journals, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Lipid Research, Circulation Research, and iScience on these topics.

Dr. Susu Zughaier is an Acting Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Qatar University College of Medicine. Trained as a clinical microbiologist at University College London; MSc and PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Cardiff University, UK. Postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA and was Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, USA. Her research interests are focused on antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and host-pathogen interactions (investigating lipid A modifications and epigenetic modulations in macrophages); vaccine development (Gonorrhea nanovaccine skin patch); nanotechnology for rapid detection of bacterial infections and artificial intelligence in medical applications (Rapid pathogen detection using silver nanorods SERS). Her translational research is focused on vitamin D immune modulatory effects and related translational studies. Dr Zughaier published more than 98 scientific research papers, H-index 37 and awarded four patents on her discoveries (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Zughaier&sort=date&size=100).

William M. Nauseef, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine, and founder and member of the Iowa Inflammation Program, University of Iowa. My research program focuses on the cell and molecular biology of human neutrophils. Our work has contributed to understanding fundamental mechanisms underlying neutrophil-mediated antimicrobial activity, with particular emphasis on the phagocyte NADPH oxidase and the granule protein myeloperoxidase (MPO). With Drs. Robert A. Clark and Bryan Volpp, we discovered p47phox and p67phox, cytoplasmic proteins required for phagocyte oxidase activity and absent from patients with autosomal chronic granulomatous disease. My lab defined steps in the biosynthesis, processing, and targeting of normal MPO and identified the consequences of missense mutations that occur in inherited MPO deficiency. Recently, we have explored the fate of human neutrophils that phagocytose Staphylococcus aureus and identified a previously unrecognized programmed cell death pathway that culminates in neutrophil lysis.

Eric Alves is a Sessional Teaching Academic at The University of Western Australia, and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Curtin Medical Research Institute and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. His research investigates how genetic variation at loci encoding the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR), and other related molecules influences disease susceptibility and clinical outcomes. Recent work has focused on the interplay between HLA variation, viral immune evasion, and T cell function, as well as improving approaches for profiling KIRs in multi-omics data.

Xiang Lin’s research interest mainly focuses on dissecting autoimmune pathogenesis and exploring the therapeutic strategies of primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS). His laboratory has established the animal model of experimental Sjogren’s syndrome. His previous findings have identified critical roles of effector and regulatory immune cell subsets, in particular Th17, T follicular helper cell, regulatory B cells in the pSS pathogenesis. Recently, they have developed therapeutic approaches targeting these immune cell subsets with various resources, e.g. biological treatment, small molecule drug and single compounds from medicinal herbs.