Immunology & Immunogenetics

Professor Giulio Tarro graduated from Medicine School, Naples University (1962). Research Associate, Division of Virology and Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital (1965-1968), Assistant Professor of Research Pediatrics, College Medicine (1968-1969), Cincinnati University, Ohio. Oncological Virology Professor, Naples University (1972-1985). Chief Division Virology (1973-2003), Head Department Diagnostic Laboratories, (2003-2006). D. Cotugno Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Naples; Emeritus, 2006. Since 2007 Chairman Committee of Biotechnologies and VirusSphere, World Academy Biomedical Technologies, UNESCO, Adjunct Professor Department Biology, Temple University, College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, recipient of the Sbarro Health Research Organization lifetime achievement award (2010). President Foundation de Beaumont Bonelli for Cancer Research.

Immunology, Vaccine, Oncology, Murine Virology, Antiviral Chemotherapy, Effects of inhibitors on viral replication, Studies on the role of herpesviruses in cancer, Tumor immunology, Pathology of AIDS

Osama O Ibrahim is a highly-experienced Principle Research Scientist with particular expertise in the fields of biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, and bioprocessing for both pharmaceutical and food ingredients. He was External Research Liaison for Kraft Foods with Universities for research projects related to bioprocessing and molecular biology. In the 2005, he accepted an early retirement offer from Kraft Foods and formed his own biotechnology company (Bio Innovation) providing technical and marketing consultation for new start-up biotechnology and food companies. He holds three bioprocessing patents and received his PhD in basic medical science (Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular biology) from New York Medical College. He is a Member of American Chemical Society, American Society of Microbiology, and Society of Industrial Microbiology since 1979.

Biotechnology, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology

Raul N Ondarza-Vidaurreta is a Professor of Biochemistry at Faculty of Medicine, UNAM and Medical Researcher at National Institute of Public Health, currently teaching Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and directing research theses in both Master’s and Doctor’s degree in the Faculties of Sciences and Medicine of the UNAM. He has published more than 50 scientific papers. He has completed his Postgraduate in Biochemistry, Glasgow University, Scotland, Great Britain and Doctor in Biology (Biochemistry) Faculty of Sciences, UNAM, Mexico and he was a Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Dr. Honoris Causa, Republique Francaise, Académie de Créteil, Universitè Paris XIII. He was a Visiting Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla, California. For twelve years, Dr. Ondarza was Advisor and General Coordinator of Science Committees within CONACYT (1971-1982) and created five new research centers in several locations in Mexico dedicated to the fields of Ecology, Biomedical Research, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Marine Biology and Oceanography. These centers are CICESE in Ensenada, B.C.; CIBNOR in La Paz, B.C. Sur; CIES in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas; CIQA in Saltillo, Coahuila; and CICY in Mérida, Yucatán.

Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Epigenetics

Zlatko Dembic is a Professor of cell biology, immunology and microbiology at the Department of Oral Biology, University of Oslo.

Immunogenetics, Immunology, Cell Biology, Dental

Guixiu Shi has completed his PhD at University of Montreal, Canada, and finished his postdoc at The Trudeau Institute, USA. He is professor and Chair of the department of rheumatology and clinical immunology in The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University. He serves as vice director of the professor committee in the medical school of Xiamen University. He has published more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals including JEM, Blood and JI. His research interest covers immune regulation and autoimmunity.

Rheumatology, Autoimmunity, Immune Regulation and Clinical Immunology

Frederic J. Deschamps is a Medical doctor (Lille- France University in 1990). He received his PhD at occupational Toxicology in the year of 1993. He was nominated professor of Medicine in 2002. He has improved for the last 20 years the department of occupational diseases of the university hospital of Reims (Champagne County). He manages for 1995 the Regional Institute of Occupational Health. He belongs to the French National University College of occupational Researches and Practionners. He has focused his work an occupational infectious diseases and health effects of low doses toxics with long term exposure.

Vaccine, Occupational Medicine, Pathology

Gaurisankar Sa completed his Ph.D from University of Calcutta and he finished his Post Doc at Cleveland Clinic, USA. He is a Senior Professor of Molecular Medicine Department, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India. He has published many articles in reputed journals and received many awards.

Biochemistry, Molecular biology, Cell signaling, Cancer biology, Tumor Immunology, Drug development

D.N Rao did his PhD in Organic Chemistry and later he joined AIIMS under Post-doctoral fellowship program and then became a full-fledged faculty member. At present, he is a retired Professor and Head of Biochemistry, AIIMS, New Delhi. He was selected as an emeritus scientist by ICMR. He has 38 years of experience in Teaching & Research and administration too. His Research expands from Immunology & Biochemistry of Leprosy, Malaria, HIV, Trauma hemorrhagic shock, Plague, Chikungunia , and dengu and finally Pre-mature ovarian failure & recurrent miscarriage in women. He received many National awards & orations for his research work and he has published extensively in peer review high impact factor international & national journals. He has guided large number of students for PhD, MD, MSc and M. Biotech.
He is a reviewer of manuscripts related to Immunology & Biochemistry, both national and international journals and member & chairperson for various advisory committees of ICMR, CSIR, DST, DBT, and AIIMS & UGC. Also, he is a selection committee member for faculty position, reviewer of thesis from various medical colleges & universities in India & abroad, He is an editorial member in many international journals and reviewer of projects of national & International collaborations in the areas of infectious diseases.
Currently he is the President of Indian Immunology Society & Vice President of FIMSA and member of many scientific organizations.

Biochemistry, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Vaccine

Dipankar Nandi is a professor of Department of Biochemistry, IISc, Bangalore, India. He performed his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, USA on characterization of epithelial tissue associated T cells and was awarded the PhD degree in 1991. He was introduced to the world of protein degradation during his postdoctoral research at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA while studying the composition and assembly of Interferon-γ-inducible proteasomes. He has published more than 60 scientific papers and he supervised 11 students for Ph.D., Dr. Nandi, is a reviewer for more than 10 international journals.

1) Studying novel microbial genes during stress, antibiotic resistance and infection 2) Understanding the host encoded immune responses

Horng-Dar Wang is a full Professor and the Director of Institute of Biotechnology and an adjunct Professor of the Institute of Systems Neuroscience at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. He received his PhD with honor in 1997 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow from 1997 to 1999 in Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Southern California, and as a postdoctoral scholar from 1999 to 2004 in Division of Biology at California Institute of Technology. He was an Assistant Professor in 2004, an Associate Professor in 2009, and promoted as a full Professor in 2015 in the Institute of Biotechnology at National Tsing Hua University.

Anti-Aging Molecular Genetic Research, Anti-Neurodegenerative and Anti-Cancer Gene

Dr. Kwon had his PhD from the Georgia Regents University, in 1981 and postdoctoral studies at the Department of Human Genetics, Yale University from 1981 to 1984. Dr. Kwon was a tenured Professor of the Indiana University School of Medicine, a Professor and Director of the Immunomodulation Research Center at the University of Ulsan, a Distinguished Professor and Investigator at the National Cancer Center, Korea, and Professor at the Department of Medicine Tulane University, New Orleans LA . He is currently the Founder and CEO of Eutilex who is developing T cell therapeutics and immunomodulatory antibody therapeutics. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers and has been serving as an editorial member of reputable journals.

Dr. Kwon’s research focuses on immunotherapy against cancers and autoimmune diseases. Dr. Kwon has established a concept called “inducible costimulation” by discovering 4-1BB-4-1BBL and AITR-AITRL systems. He has proved that immune functions can be selectively suppressed or enhanced through the inducible costimulation and presented the possibility of “selective immunotherapy”. Antigen-specific T cell therapeutics that Dr. Kwon’s team has developed are in phase 1 trials against various cancers in the NCC.

Pongsak Rattanachaikunsopon is a Professor in the Department of Biological Science at University Of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. He obtained Bachelor of Science in Radiological Technology at Mahidol University, Thailand and a Master of Science in Anatomy at Mahidol University, Thailand. He earned Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania USA. He has been awarded with Professor Sood Saengvichain Award for Best Research and Presentation in 13th Annual Meeting of the Society of Anatomy of Thailand in 1990, Professor Dr. Tab Nilanidhi Foundation Award for the outstanding graduate student in Anatomy in 1991 and Best Government Officer, The Ministry of Education in 2014. He is a member of Editorial Board of Journal of Herbal Medicine Research.

Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry

Dr. Ivana Haluskova Balter, MD, specialised in infectious diseases, internal medicine covering various therapeutic axes, certified in Immunology and Pediatric, MBA vaccinology and years of clinical practise contributing to bring innovative science into clinical practise and support strategic global level partnership. Lived multi-country medical “field “experience in Southeast Asia (India in particular), West/Central/East Europe.
She can speak French, English, Russian, Italian, Czech, Slovak with notion of Mandarin.
Over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development for European and USA companies (Servier, Wyeth, Pfizer, Flamel) as Medical lead for various therapeutic areas for adults and children including neurodegenerative diseases, infectious diseases, metabolic diseases and orphan indications.
She is an active member of French immunology society (SFI) administrative board and Society of exotic pathology (France) and several international academic societies. Focus on innovation of R&D reflecting immunology and genetic interindividual and geographic variabilities and exploration of NCE originated from natural sources including traditional medicine.
She have years of experience to work globally within Europe, USA but recently more focused on BRICS - Asia (India in Particular) as a Medical advisor bringing new innovative concepts alive and getting them endorsed.

Immunology, Vaccine and Pediatric

Ishak Ozel Tekin received the Doctor of Medicine in 1993 from Gazi University Ankara, Turkey. He received the PhD degree in Immunology in Gazi University in 1999. In 2000, he moved to Zonguldak Karaelmas University where he founded the second department of immunology in Turkey the same year. He is the Head of Department of Immunology in Bulent Ecevit University, School of Medicine. He is mainly interested in inflammation and oxidative stress. He is a member of Turkish Immunology Society, Turkish Thorax Society, Turkish Association of Wound Care and Repair, European Respiratory Society, World Society of Interdiciplinary Anti-Aging Medicine. He is the scientific director of Immune-Aging Division of Regenera Research Group.

Immunology, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress

Dr. Sevgi Ciftci received her Ph.D. from the Microbiology of Medical Faculty at Istanbul University. She currently fellow as the Associate Professor in the Microbiology Department of the Faculty of Dentistry at Istanbul University. She is a member of the Editorial Board of several international journals. She also served as a member of the Organization Committee in International Congresses.

Virology (Especially hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus), Microbiology

Parichat Phumkhachorn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Science at Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand. She has completed her Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology at KhonKaen University, Thailand and Master of Science in Microbiology at Mahidol University, Thailand. She received her Ph.D. in Biology at KhonKaen University, Thailand.

Medical Microbiology, Immunology

Professor Giulio Tarro graduated from Medicine School, Naples University (1962). Research Associate, Division of Virology and Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital (1965-1968), Assistant Professor of Research Pediatrics, College Medicine (1968-1969), Cincinnati University, Ohio. Oncological Virology Professor, Naples University (1972-1985). Chief Division Virology (1973-2003), Head Department Diagnostic Laboratories, (2003-2006). D. Cotugno Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Naples; Emeritus, 2006. Since 2007 Chairman Committee of Biotechnologies and VirusSphere, World Academy Biomedical Technologies, UNESCO, Adjunct Professor Department Biology, Temple University, College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, recipient of the Sbarro Health Research Organization lifetime achievement award (2010). President Foundation de Beaumont Bonelli for Cancer Research.

Murine Virology, Antiviral Chemotherapy, Immunology, Effects of inhibitors on viral replication, Studies on the role of herpesviruses in cancer, Tumor immunology, Pathology of AIDS.

Dr. Michael G Hanna, Jr. received his PhD in experimental pathology and immunology from the University of Tennessee (TN, USA) in the 1960s. He was a consultant with NASA for the lunar receiving laboratory during Apollo 11 and 12, for which his expertise in immunology was used in the testing of the lunar core powder for immunogenic or pathogenic materials. Dr. Hanna served during 1974–83 as Director of the National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Center (MD, USA).

He was Chief Operating Officer during 1985–94 of Organon Teknika/Biotechnology Research Institute and Senior Vice President of Organon Teknika Corporation, a subsidiary of Akzo Nobel, Netherlands. He developed and obtained approvals for TICE BCG for the treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) bladder cancer, which remains the standard of care for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and therapy of CIS. Subsequently, Dr. Hanna founded PerImmune Inc., for which he served as President and Chief Executive Officer before it merged with Intracel Corp. in 1998. He continued to work for Intracel Resources as Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman.

In 2007, Dr. Hanna founded Vaccinogen Inc., where he served as Chairman and CEO. Currently, Dr. Hanna is Chairman Emeritus. The company is a pioneer in the field of cancer vaccines and is developing OncoVAX, an autologous vaccine designed to elicit a specific immune response against cancer cells. The Phase 3 vaccine is being investigated for treatment mainly of colon cancer, but also for melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

In addition to cancer therapy research and development, Dr. Hanna has been involved in Homeland Security. He served as Chairman of the Department of Commerce Biotechnology Advisory Committee (1984–9) and also participated in the Department of Defense Technical Working Group for Biotechnology (1988–9). PerImmune completed a Department of Defense contract to manufacture the current effective therapeutic for Botulinum toxin, an equine heptavalent anti-toxin. Dr Hanna’s research resulted in over 225 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and he holds 10 patents related to immunotherapy. Dr Hanna has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has served on many editorial boards, including for Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics.

Cancer Vaccines, Active Specific Immunotherapy, Humoral Immunity, Tumor Antigens.

Yaffa Mizrachi Nebenzahl has completed her PhD at The Weizmann Institute, Israel in 1985. She is the Head of the Molecular Microbiology Laboratory in The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Immunology, molecular biology, infectious diseases, bio chemistry, pneumonia, innate Immunity.

Dr. Jessy Deshane is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at UAB. Since starting her own laboratory in January 2011, she focused her laboratory research program on immune regulation by myeloid-derived regulatory cells (MDRCs) in chronic inflammatory lung diseases. Dr. Jessy team have recently identified and characterized these free radical producing myeloid-lineage cells as master regulators of allergic airway inflammation. Her laboratory is particularly interested in delineating mechanisms underlying the differentiation and function of MDRCs in the establishment and resolution of inflammation. They are currently investigating the novel hypothesis that MDRCs can produce neo-antigens that trigger dysregulated immune responses in asthma. The impact of environmental exposures on MDRCs and generation of neo-antigens is also of great interest to her lab. She has recently extended her program to investigate novel strategies to target immunosuppression by myeloid-lineage cells and to reprogram the metabolism in the tumor microenvironment. Her team anticipates that their strategies will enhance persistent memory response for lung cancer.

Immune regulation, Asthma, Molecular Immunology, Tumor, Cancer

Dr. Rao is a professor of Microbiology, Parasitology, Immunology , Pharmacology and Epidemiology in many universities, many medical colleges in India, China, Nepal, Libya, and Philippines. Currently he is working as professor of Microbiology, Parasitology, Immunology and Dean of Student Affairs at Avalon University School of Medicine, Curacao, Netherland Antilles. Dr. Rao has more than 44 years of teaching and research experience. Supervised 4 students for Ph.D,. Authored 18 text books. 3 Universities appointed as their adviser . Presented 18 full length papers exclusively during 2015 to 2016 in different international journals. Accepted as organizing committee member for 3 international conferences in 2016. Invited Key note speaker and speaker for many conferences, universities and colleges. The Royal Society United kingdom awarded me three fellowships in 2016 for my current advanced research in Medicine. Dr Rao is post doctoral supervisor too. Dr Rao,is Editor -in chief and Editor for more than 12 international journals.

Parasitic infections are more in tropical countries and cause global health problem especially in developing countries, Advanced diagnostics, tests, vaccines, therapeutics and development of new drugs are needed. Viviparity is common among est mammals but not many provide long gestation period, To study long term parasitic toxic effects, it is essential to use long gestation period laboratory animal models. Rats have 21 days, rabbits 30,dog 60 days of gestation period, The subtle effects of Thalidomide tragedy resulting in phocomalia, apoda etc in the offspring lead to untold miseries, Similarly good number of cases of fetal deaths, still births, teratogenices etc. Dr.Rao used scorpion as model in estimation of heavy metals like mercury and lead in embryonic development of scorpion and noticed similar effects, Indeed great challenges, given that most drugs in pipe line failed in clinical trails. Because most of the drugs tested on low gestation period animals, A new thought in the drug design for parasitic diseases by using scorpion as a model. Introducing parasite in scorpion and observing the drug effects and reversal effects, In addition to clinical work, developed a variety of basic and transnational research programs, participated to Ph.D. programs.

Eugenio Luigi Iorio is an eclectic medical doctor with many different field of interest, he did doctorate in Biochemical Sciences. He is the president of International Observatory of Oxidative Stress (Salerno, Italy). According to his research, the identification and the control of oxidative stress, an emerging health risk factor related to the dysregulation of redox systems, may play a relevant role in the prevention and treatment of life-style related disorders. After 15 years of research he funded in 2007 the International Observatory of Oxidative Stress (IOOS), a no-profit scientific network of more than 3,000 researchers living in 35 different Countries, which main goal is to translate into the clinical practice the basic knowledge on free radicals and antioxidants as the ancient modulating mechanism of all living functions. As the President of IOOS Iorio promotes and realises worldwide programs aimed to improve or to maintain the quality of life through personalised interventions on life-style, by using the redoxomics approach that allows to measure the level of oxidative stress even in real time.

Oxidative Stress, Biochemistry

Ishak Ozel Tekin received the Doctor of Medicine in 1993 from Gazi University Ankara, Turkey. He received the PhD degree in Immunology in Gazi University in 1999. In 2000, he moved to Zonguldak Karaelmas University where he founded the second department of immunology in Turkey the same year. He is the Head of Department of Immunology in Bulent Ecevit University, School of Medicine. He is mainly interested in inflammation and oxidative stress. He is a member of Turkish Immunology Society, Turkish Thorax Society, Turkish Association of Wound Care and Repair, European Respiratory Society, World Society of Interdiciplinary Anti-Aging Medicine. He is the scientific director of Immune-Aging Division of Regenera Research Group.

Immunology, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress

Dr. Fenniri was educated at the University of Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry and biochemistry (1989, top of his class) and his M.Sc. /Ph.D. degrees in supramolecular science and engineering (1990/1994) under the supervision of Professor Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel Laureate). He then joined the Scripps Research Institute in California, USA, where he carried out his postdoctoral training under the supervision of Professor Richard A. Lerner (President and CEO). In 1997 he moved to Purdue University, where he initiated his independent academic career, and established the Purdue Laboratory for Chemical Nanotechnology (1999). In 2003, He joined the National Research Council and the University of Alberta to build and lead the Supramolecular Nanoscale Assembly program, and contribute to the shaping of the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), its research programs and facilities, and the recruitment of highly qualified personnel. NINT has since grown from 4 principal investigators in 2003 to a vibrant research and technology organization of over 350 researchers in 2013.

In addition Dr. Fenniri held a full professor position with the Department of Chemistry (since 2003-2013) and adjunct full professor positions with the department of biomedical engineering (since 2010) with the faculty of medicine and with the department if Chemistry (since 2013) at the University of Alberta. Dr. Fenniri is currently Professor Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.

Dr. Fenniri has achieved international recognition as a leader in the areas of self-assembly, supramolecular chemistry, nanomedicine, combinatorial chemistry, and materials sciences. His group works at the forefront of basic and applied nanosciences, in collaboration with various academic institutions, federal laboratories, and with the private sector. Dr. Fenniri’s contributions appeared in over 190 publications, 8 patents, and over 400 contributed national and international conference papers. Dr. Fenniri has also presented his work in over 150 invited distinguished lectures, colloquia and seminars around the globe. His research programs are supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, the US National Institutes of Health, the National Research Council of Canada, the University of Alberta, and several private, provincial and federal funding organizations.

Dr. Fenniri is the recipient of several academic and professional honours and awards, including the Xerox UAC Award (2006–2008), the 3M Faculty Award (2000, 2002), the Showalter Trust Fund Award (1999, 2001), the Trask Trust Fund Technology Innovation Award (2000), the Cottrell Teacher Scholar Award (2000–2005), and the US National Science Foundation Career Award (1999–2003). Dr. Fenniri is Member of the Editorial Board of several scientific journals and serves on several national and international scientific boards, panels, and committees.

Nanotechnology for biomedical applications, Nanoscale materials for drug delivery, Cell therapeutics and regenerative medicine.

For more than 10 years is working actively to endocrine and metabolic diseases in prostate cancer at the Department of Medicine and Science of Aging of University G. d\'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Italy. In particular, recently her research work has been awarded by the Italian Society of Urology, analyzing the complex relationship between changes in bone metabolism, renal function and immune structure in prostate cancer. She is currently a professor at the Postgraduate School of Urology at the University G. D'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara. She also founded in 2015 at the People's University Nicholas Copernicus the Department of Urologic Sciences, Biomedical and Translational, of which She is a Director.

Simona Di Francesco research interest is in Urological Cancer and Immunology, Prostate and Immunology, Bladder and Immunology, Kidney and Immunology.

Noah Isakov is a Professor of Immunology and Chair of The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Health Sciences Ben Gurion University of the Negev Beer Sheva Israel. He received his PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot Israel 1981 and performed postdoctoral studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis MN 1981-1983 and the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla CA 1983-1987. He performed a Sabbatical at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH Bethesda MD 1993-1995 and served as an Esther Z Greenberg Honors Chair in Biomedical Research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in Oklahoma City OK 2003-2004 and President of the Israel Immunological Society 2004-2006.

Immunology, signal transduction, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology.

Burak Karacaören received his B.Sc. degree in Animal Science (Faculty of Agriculture) and M.Sc. in Biometry and Genetics (Institute of Natural Sciences) from Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey in 1999 and 2001 respectively. He spent 6 months in As, Agricultural University of Norway, Norway about animal production and statistics. He received his Dr.Sc.degree in Statistical Animal Genetics Group (Institute of Animal Sciences) from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland at 2006. As a part of his doctorate studies he spent 2 months in INRA Paris, France. He was a post doctoral researcher at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK in Genetics and Genomics department and at the Laurentian Forestry Institute, University of Laval, Quebec, Canada in forestry genomics in 2008-2010 and 2010-2011 respectively. Currently he is an assistant professor in Biometry and Genetics Section, Department of Animal Science at Akdeniz University, Turkey.

Burak Karacaoren main research interests are in statistical methods applied to genetics, genomics and animal breeding.

Charles J Malemud received the PhD from George Washington University in 1973 and completed postdoctoral studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1977. He is Professor of Medicine & Anatomy in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases and Senior Investigator in the Arthritis Research Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He has published more than 200 papers and reviews primarily in the field of chondrocyte biology. He is on the editorial board of several rheumatology, immunology and musculoskeletal journals and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology.

Biology of the Musculoskeletal System Intracellular Signal Transduction Pathways Inflammation Pro-inflammatory, Anti-Inflammatory & Anabolic Cytokines Apoptosis Matrix metalloproteinases Osteoarthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Fibromyalgia Autoimmune Disorders Research Interest

Dr. Vajdy is a Mucosal Immunologist with over 20 years of direct experience in designing mucosal and systemic adjuvants and vaccines, studying mucosal and systemic B and T cell immune induction mechanisms and long-term immunological memory. Following Ph.D. studentship at Goteborg University under the supervision of Dr. Nils Lycke, a prominent Mucosal Immunologist, Dr. Vajdy completed his first post doctoral fellowship with Dr. Katherine Knight, then President of the American Association of Immunologists. Dr. Vajdy completed his second post doctoral fellowship with Dr. Marian Neutra, an expert in Mucosal Biology and M cells of the intestinal Peyer’s patches. Dr. Vajdy was recruited to Chiron Corporation and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics where he remained for 9.5 years with increasing responsibilities including project leadership for a vaccine manufacturing platform technology. He also held simultaneous academic positions as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and visitingassociate professor at Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis. He was also a Faculty Member with the Graduate Group, Department of Comparative Pathology, University of California, Davis. In these capacities, he trained a Ph.D. student and 3 post-doctoral fellows and wrote collaborative NIH grants. Dr. Vajdy has authored 50 papers and manuscripts, 45 of which have been published and the remaining are submitted or are in manuscript form. Dr. Vajdy is the editor of a book entitled “immunity against mucosal pathogens” (Springer, 2008). Dr. Vajdy was the PI and recipient of an R21 grant (R21 AI50430-01). He was also an investigator on several multi-project NIH grants. Dr. Vajdy is the inventor of 6 patents owned by Novartis Vaccines as well as one patent owned fully by EpitoGenesis Inc.

Mucosal Immunology, Vaccines

I am Oliver, Associate Professor in Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine (ULAM) and Department of Microbiology and Immunology. I am also an affiliated member of the Center for Computational Medicine and Biology (CCMB) and a member of the (Comprehensive Cancer Center) in the University of Michigan (UM) Medical School. Our laboratory research is focused on host-Brucella interaction and bioinformatics. I had my D.V.M. education at Jiangxi Agricultural University and my M.S. degree (Co-advisors: Professors Zhongzhi Zhang and Hanchun Yang) in Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Preventive Medicine at China Agricultural University in China. I obtained my professional assistant veterinarian license during my two-year employment at Beijing Xijiao Livestock and Poultry Company, Beijing, China. My training in Brucella research started in 1996 in Dr. Gerhardt Schurig’s immunology laboratory at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). I obtained my Ph.D. in Dr. Schurig's lab in 2000. I then worked in the same lab as a postdoc for half a year. I obtained my M.S. degree (research advisor: Dr. Pedro Mendes) in computer science in Virginia Tech with a focus on bioinformatics in May 2002. After graduation I worked as a senior research associate for three years in Dr. Bruno Sobral’s group at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI). I joined UM in July 2005 as an assistant professor and became an associate professor in September 2011 (with tenure).

Yongqun Oliver research interest are Brucella pathogenesis, vaccine research and development and Bioinformatics.

Michael G. Hanna, Jr. received his PhD in experimental pathology and immunology from the University of Tennessee in 1964. He was on staff of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, biology division from 1964-75. During this period he pioneered the early concepts of tumor immunology. He also served as a consultant with NASA for the lunar receiving laboratory during Apollo 11 and 12, for which his expertise in immunology was used in the testing of the lunar core powder for immunogenic or pathogenic materials. Dr. Hanna served during1975–83 as Director of the National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Center (MD, USA). In this position he created a center of research excellence for the NCI and established the Biological Response Modifier Program which led in the development of resources for immunotherapy of cancer. He was Chief Operating Officer during 1984–94 of Organon Teknika/Biotechnology Research Institute and Senior Vice President of Organon Teknika Corporation, a subsidiary of Akzo Nobel, The Netherlands. He developed and obtained approvals for TICE BCG for the treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) bladder cancer, which remains the standard of care for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and therapy of CIS. Subsequently, Dr. Hanna founded PerImmune Inc., for which he served as President and Chief Executive Officer before it merged with Intracel Corp. in1998. He continued to work for Intracel Resources as Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman. In 2007, Dr. Hanna founded Vaccinogen Inc., where he served as Chairman and CEO. Currently, Dr. Hanna is Chairman Emeritus. The company is a pioneer in the field of cancer vaccines and is developing OncoVAX, an autologous vaccine designed to elicit a specific immune response against cancer cells. The Phase III vaccine is being investigated for treatment mainly of colon cancer, but also for melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. In addition to cancer therapy research and development, Dr. Hanna has been involved in Homeland Security. He served as Chairman of the Department of Commerce Biotechnology Advisory Committee (1984–9) and also participated in the Department of Defense Technical Working Group for Biotechnology (1988–9). PerImmune completed a Department of Defense contract to manufacture the current effective therapeutic for Botulinum toxin, an equine heptavalent anti-toxin. Dr Hanna’s research resulted in over 225 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and he holds 10 patents related to immunotherapy. Dr Hanna has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has serves on many editorial boards.

Immunology, Vaccines

Ahmed Hegazi (or Ahmed Gaffer Hegazi; احمد جعفر حجازى) (born May 31, 1948) is currently a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the department of Zoonotic Diseases, National Research Center, Egypt. Prof. Hegazi received his masters degree in 1979, and his PhD in 1981. Hegazi's research work has been focused lately on bee products and their therapeutic effects. Hegazi Organized and contributed to national and international research projects since 1977 and up till now; he has been the principal investigator on multiple research projects within the National Research Center. He has published 166 scientific papers and articles in national and international journals. He also served on the board of multiple national and international scientific journals. Dr. Hegazi is also the president of the Egyptian Environmental Society for Uses and Production of Bee Products, secretary of the Egyptian Society of Apitherapy, secretary general of the African Federation of Apiculture Associations, and a member of the International Apitherapy Commission (APIMONDIA). Awards First Class Decoration of Excellence, Egypt, 1995 The Senior Scientist Prize of National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, 1996 The National Scientific Prize In Biological Sciences, Egypt, 1990 The Scientific Prize of The National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, 1989 The Second Best Research Paper Award, International Congress of Propolis, Bones Airs, Argentina, 2000 Main Speaker Award,10th Academic Conference, PRA and NAS (Nippon Apitherapy Soc.) Japan, 2006 2 Bronze medals from The International Innovation Fair of the Middle East, Kuwait, 2007 Patents Patent No. 8901 at 22/08/2006: A novel drug from natural products with new therapeutic modalities in treatment of psoriasis Patent No. 1005 at 02/01/2006: A novel drug from natural resources for controlling Fascioliasis Patent No. 270: at 01/06/2005: A novel drug from medicinal plants with antiatherosclerotic (hypocholesterolaemic), antioxidant and cardio protective properties. Patent No. 272: at 01/06/2005: A novel drug from natural resources with antiatherosclerotic (hypocholesterolaemic), antioxidant and cardio protective properties. Scientific Activities Editor in the following International Journals: Research Journal of Allergy, 2007 International Journal of Virology, 2007 Current Research In Tuberculosis, 2007 Research Journal of Veterinary Science, 2007 Research Journal of Microbiology, 2007 International Journal of Cancer Research, 2007 Research Journal of Medicinal plants, 2007 Referee in the following International Journals: Journal of Planta Medica, 2005 Journal of Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2006 International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2007

Apitherapy, Immunology

Mark S. Kindy, Ph.D. is Professor of Neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Clemson University, Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina, Adjunct Professor of Management and Entreprenurialism, School of Business, College of Charleston. He received his BA in zoology from the University of Massachusetts in 1980. Dr. Kindy received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston University School of Medicine from 1982-1987. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute from 1987-1989 in Molecular Biology and Virology. From 1989-2002, Dr. Kindy was a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky and rose from Assistant Professor to Full Professor. Dr. Kindy is currently the Admiral Pihl Endowed Professor in the Department of Neurosciences. Dr. Kindy is also a Research Career Scientist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston. Dr. Kindy has served on many NIH, AHA, AA review panels, has reviewed for many journals and is currently on the editorial board of 10 journals. Dr. Kindy has over 140 peer reviewed publications and is funded by the NIH, VA , NSF and several foundations.

Mark S. Kindy research interest include Neurological disorders, Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Inflammation, Immune function in disease, Vaccines.

Jagat Kanwar is an Associate Professor of Immunology & Cell Biology, and Group Leader in “Nanomedicine-Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biomedical Research” at Deakin University, Australia. He did his PhD in 1993 from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India and worked as a Senior Scientist in The Auckland University, New Zealand for more than 10 years. He has a national and international reputation in investigating fundamental and applied molecular aspects of cancer and chronic inflammation. His research is also focused on miRNA, aptamer, locked nucleic acid (LNA) LNA-modified chimeric aptamers-siRNA conjugates, and immunoliposomes technology and disease targeted drug discovery. His research combines Immunology with state of the art and cutting edge techniques in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Nanobiotechnology and visualization to investigate the pathways in which key molecules are regulated in both normal and disease states. He designed nanocarriers for applications in vaccines, immunotherapy, and drug delivery of antigens immunostimulatory ligands to dendritic cells and subsequent stimuli to T- lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes and TH17 cells.

Cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases targeted nanomedicine based drug delivery siRNA, miRNA anti-sense targeted gene nanomedicine based technology to target cancer and inflammation Drug discovery with anticancer targets for cancer cell survival, death, arrest, and repair Development of recombinant proteins and searching new immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory bioactives, proteins and peptides for cancer and neuroprotection Development of complementary alternative medicine from the milk derived proteins including metal binding protein (Lactoferrin), and herbal preparation derived active components with a special focus on the treatment of colon and breast cancers Development of oral and intravenous administration of nanocarriers to overcome the challenging concept of drug resistance in various cancers Development of new generation safe, biodegradable, less toxic, disease targeted natural contrast materials for imaging Novel nano-medicinal based vaccines and immunotherapy Micro-fluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip devices for delivery and diagnosis

James Mansfield is a scientist with over 25 years of experience in spectral imaging,in-vivo spectroscopy and applied data analysis, directed towards finding of novel optical methods for the diagnosis and monitoring of medical conditions. He is currently the Director of Quantitative Pathology Applications at PerkinElmer where he is the senior application scientist for their multispectral and digital pathology product lines. He is an associate editor of the American Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, holds 6 patents, has over 50 publications and has served as an invited speaker, session chair and organizer at a variety of international conferences.

Immunology

Zhao received his MD from Dalian Medical University, China and PhD in Biochemistry from Gifu Medical University, Japan. He completed his post-doctoral fellow training in molecular biology at University of Delaware and in pulmonary diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and became a junior faculty in Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Following with Drs. Joe Garcia and V. Natarajan, Dr. Zhao moved to University of Chicago and was promoted to Assistant Professor (RA) in Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. In March 2010, Dr. Zhao joined the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care faculty at the University of Pittsburgh as an Associate Professor.

Dr. Zhao’s laboratory focuses on role of lysophospholipids in pulmonary epithelial and endothelial inflammation and remodeling

Rina Aharoni completed her doctorate in immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel in 1990 on immunomodulation of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and its animal model Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) as well as on the mechanisms of action of Copaxone (Glatiramer acetate) in these diseases. During her Postdoc in Stanford University (1991-1994), she was the first to show that Copaxone treatment can be applied for additional immunopathological disorders, initially for Graft Versus Host Disease and later for graft rejection. When she returned to the Weizmann Institute (1995 ), her main research involves development of immunomodulatory and neuroprotective approaches and their in situ effect in the Central Nervous System, in particular, the potential for neurogenesis and remyelination. In parallel she continues to study new applications for Copaxone and recently showed its therapeutic potential for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Immunomodulation, Neuroprotection, Repair processes in the Central Nervous System, Neurogenesis, Remyelination, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), Copaxone (Glatiramer Acetate, GA), Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD).

Charles J Malemud received the PhD from George Washington University in 1973 and completed postdoctoral studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1977. He is Professor of Medicine & Anatomy in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases and Senior Investigator in the Arthritis Research Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He has published more than 200 papers and reviews primarily in the field of chondrocyte biology. He is on the editorial board of several rheumatology, immunology and musculoskeletal journals and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology.

Biology of the Musculoskeletal System Intracellular Signal Transduction Pathways Inflammation Pro-inflammatory, Anti-Inflammatory & Anabolic Cytokines Apoptosis Matrix metalloproteinases Osteoarthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Fibromyalgia Autoimmune Disorders Research Interest

Ahmed Hegazi (or Ahmed Gaffer Hegazi; احمد جعفر حجازى) (born May 31, 1948) is currently a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the department of Zoonotic Diseases, National Research Center, Egypt. Prof. Hegazi received his masters degree in 1979, and his PhD in 1981. Hegazi's research work has been focused lately on bee products and their therapeutic effects. Hegazi Organized and contributed to national and international research projects since 1977 and up till now; he has been the principal investigator on multiple research projects within the National Research Center. He has published 166 scientific papers and articles in national and international journals. He also served on the board of multiple national and international scientific journals. Dr. Hegazi is also the president of the Egyptian Environmental Society for Uses and Production of Bee Products, secretary of the Egyptian Society of Apitherapy, secretary general of the African Federation of Apiculture Associations, and a member of the International Apitherapy Commission (APIMONDIA). Awards First Class Decoration of Excellence, Egypt, 1995 The Senior Scientist Prize of National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, 1996 The National Scientific Prize In Biological Sciences, Egypt, 1990 The Scientific Prize of The National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, 1989 The Second Best Research Paper Award, International Congress of Propolis, Bones Airs, Argentina, 2000 Main Speaker Award,10th Academic Conference, PRA and NAS (Nippon Apitherapy Soc.) Japan, 2006 2 Bronze medals from The International Innovation Fair of the Middle East, Kuwait, 2007 Patents Patent No. 8901 at 22/08/2006: A novel drug from natural products with new therapeutic modalities in treatment of psoriasis Patent No. 1005 at 02/01/2006: A novel drug from natural resources for controlling Fascioliasis Patent No. 270: at 01/06/2005: A novel drug from medicinal plants with antiatherosclerotic (hypocholesterolaemic), antioxidant and cardio protective properties. Patent No. 272: at 01/06/2005: A novel drug from natural resources with antiatherosclerotic (hypocholesterolaemic), antioxidant and cardio protective properties. Scientific Activities Editor in the following International Journals: Research Journal of Allergy, 2007 International Journal of Virology, 2007 Current Research In Tuberculosis, 2007 Research Journal of Veterinary Science, 2007 Research Journal of Microbiology, 2007 International Journal of Cancer Research, 2007 Research Journal of Medicinal plants, 2007 Referee in the following International Journals: Journal of Planta Medica, 2005 Journal of Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2006 International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2007

Apitherapy, Immunology

I am Oliver, Associate Professor in Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine (ULAM) and Department of Microbiology and Immunology. I am also an affiliated member of the Center for Computational Medicine and Biology (CCMB) and a member of the (Comprehensive Cancer Center) in the University of Michigan (UM) Medical School. Our laboratory research is focused on host-Brucella interaction and bioinformatics. I had my D.V.M. education at Jiangxi Agricultural University and my M.S. degree (Co-advisors: Professors Zhongzhi Zhang and Hanchun Yang) in Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Preventive Medicine at China Agricultural University in China. I obtained my professional assistant veterinarian license during my two-year employment at Beijing Xijiao Livestock and Poultry Company, Beijing, China. My training in Brucella research started in 1996 in Dr. Gerhardt Schurig’s immunology laboratory at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). I obtained my Ph.D. in Dr. Schurig's lab in 2000. I then worked in the same lab as a postdoc for half a year. I obtained my M.S. degree (research advisor: Dr. Pedro Mendes) in computer science in Virginia Tech with a focus on bioinformatics in May 2002. After graduation I worked as a senior research associate for three years in Dr. Bruno Sobral’s group at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI). I joined UM in July 2005 as an assistant professor and became an associate professor in September 2011 (with tenure).

Yongqun Oliver research interest are Brucella pathogenesis, vaccine research and development and Bioinformatics.

Yehuda Shoenfeld works at Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer and the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel-Aviv University. He is the incumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases. Shoefeld is the editor of two journals, Harefuah (Medicine) in Hebrew with English abstracts and Israel Medical Association Journal (IMAJ). He is editor-in-chief of Autoimmunity Reviews,[1] and co-editor of the Journal of Autoimmunity.[2] Head Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases Incumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases Editor, Israel Medical Association Journal (IMAJ) Editor-in-chief of Autoimmunity Reviews Co-editor of the Journal of Autoimmunity Tel-Aviv University

Autoimmune Diseases, Immunomodulation Tel: (972)-3-5308070 Fax: (972)-3-5352855

Michael G. Hanna, Jr. received his PhD in experimental pathology and immunology from the University of Tennessee in 1964. He was on staff of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, biology division from 1964-75. During this period he pioneered the early concepts of tumor immunology. He also served as a consultant with NASA for the lunar receiving laboratory during Apollo 11 and 12, for which his expertise in immunology was used in the testing of the lunar core powder for immunogenic or pathogenic materials. Dr. Hanna served during1975–83 as Director of the National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Center (MD, USA). In this position he created a center of research excellence for the NCI and established the Biological Response Modifier Program which led in the development of resources for immunotherapy of cancer. He was Chief Operating Officer during 1984–94 of Organon Teknika/Biotechnology Research Institute and Senior Vice President of Organon Teknika Corporation, a subsidiary of Akzo Nobel, The Netherlands. He developed and obtained approvals for TICE BCG for the treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) bladder cancer, which remains the standard of care for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and therapy of CIS. Subsequently, Dr. Hanna founded PerImmune Inc., for which he served as President and Chief Executive Officer before it merged with Intracel Corp. in1998. He continued to work for Intracel Resources as Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman. In 2007, Dr. Hanna founded Vaccinogen Inc., where he served as Chairman and CEO. Currently, Dr. Hanna is Chairman Emeritus. The company is a pioneer in the field of cancer vaccines and is developing OncoVAX, an autologous vaccine designed to elicit a specific immune response against cancer cells. The Phase III vaccine is being investigated for treatment mainly of colon cancer, but also for melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. In addition to cancer therapy research and development, Dr. Hanna has been involved in Homeland Security. He served as Chairman of the Department of Commerce Biotechnology Advisory Committee (1984–9) and also participated in the Department of Defense Technical Working Group for Biotechnology (1988–9). PerImmune completed a Department of Defense contract to manufacture the current effective therapeutic for Botulinum toxin, an equine heptavalent anti-toxin. Dr Hanna’s research resulted in over 225 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and he holds 10 patents related to immunotherapy. Dr Hanna has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has serves on many editorial boards.

Immunology, Vaccines

James Mansfield is a scientist with over 25 years of experience in spectral imaging,in-vivo spectroscopy and applied data analysis, directed towards finding of novel optical methods for the diagnosis and monitoring of medical conditions. He is currently the Director of Quantitative Pathology Applications at PerkinElmer where he is the senior application scientist for their multispectral and digital pathology product lines. He is an associate editor of the American Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, holds 6 patents, has over 50 publications and has served as an invited speaker, session chair and organizer at a variety of international conferences.

Immunology

Yong Li, is an Associate Professor within the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Texas, School of Medicine at Houston. He also is appointed as an Associate Professor in the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Li completed his MD and PhD training in China and was a general surgeon before he went to London in 1997. His first research position as a postdoctoral fellow was at the Imperial College School of Medicine in the UK (1997-1999), and later as a postdoctoral research associate at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC (1999-2002). He was promoted to a research assistant professor in 2002, assistant professor in 2004 (within tenure track system in 2006), and lead his research team to successful approaches in the field of stem cell and anti-fibrosis in regenerative medicine. These projects also include the enlargement and application of adult stem cells (muscle and skin) to repair traumatic injury (muscle, tendon, spinal cord and brain) and congenital diseases (DMD). They also began to study some projects such as the dedifferentiation process within skeletal muscle, cartilage and neuronal system of mammals and related aging research. As of 2011, Dr. Li has published over 66 refereed journal articles and review papers and five book chapters. He also serves as an associate editor or on the editorial board of five journals, and over five scientific communities including some grant reviewing boards. Dr. Li has won over twenty international awards for his scientific advances, including most recently, the Michael Miller Young Investigator Award at Children’s Hospital of UPMC. He is also a very successful grant-funded faculty member with grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD). He also is a great mentor and supervisor of students, medical residents and research fellows; several of his students and follows have won numerous national and international awards and scholarships including one student who won the 2011 National Goldwater Scholarship. Dr. Li is recognized as a leader in two scientific fields which include dedifferentiation related stem cell studies and fibrosis studies in tissue biomedical engineering. Within the newly established program in Children’s Regeneration Medicine at UTHealth, Dr. Li and his team has continual interest in investigating the fields of stem cells, fibrosis prevention and tissue engineering by using ground-breaking molecular and cellular biology techniques. Beside basic biomedical studies, Dr. Li will also conduct departmental projects in translational studies and clinical applications for utilizing stem cells and bioengineered tissues to repair congenital diseases of children such as diaphragmatic hernia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Children’s Regenerative Medicine The project will use various cell sources combined with bioengineering scaffolds to build functional tissues for repair of pediatric defects, such as children’s diaphragmatic hernia Dedifferentiation and Stem Cell Populations The project aims to enlarge the stem cell pool without genetic modification as a cell source for regenerative medicine. Adult Embryonic Potential Stem Cells and Application Obtain natural embryonic potential stem cells from adult tissue for utilization in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Fibrosis and Prevention Studies Investigate the mechanism behind the fibrosis process after injuries and diseases, and seek methods for prevention of fibrous scar tissue formation

Jianfei Yang is a Principal Scientist and a project leader for a Th17 cell target at Tempero Pharmaceuticals, a GSK company, in Cambridge, MA, USA. He received a PhD in Pathology from Niigata University in Japan in 1997. He then obtained postdoctoral training in Dr. Ken Murphy’s lab at HHMI and Washington University. In the past 15 year, he has been studying the role of CD4+ T helper cells in immunity and diseases. He has more than 10 years of experience in autoimmune disease research and pharmaceutical drug development. He has published numerous papers and patents.

Immunology

Anil Shanker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology at Meharry Medical College. He is also a member of Vanderbilt-Ingram Comprehensive Cancer Center at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Shanker obtained his PhD from Banaras Hindu University in 1999. He performed his postdoctoral studies at the CNRS/INSERM Center of Immunology, Marseille, France and the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland. His pioneering work with solid tumor models demonstrated that activated CD8 T cells provided a necessary “help” to dormant NK cells in eliciting their antitumor function. His laboratory is currently focused on understanding mechanisms of functional cross-talk between T cells and NK cells in tumor models. He is also dissecting the mechanisms of immunomodulation by the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and Notch ligand DLL1 in adoptive T cell/NK cell transfer settings in an effort to design novel combinatorial immune strategies in cancer patients. He has over 30 research publications to his credit in cancer and immunology journals.

Tumor immunity and immunotherapy, T cell and NK cell biology, immune effector mechanisms, apoptosis signaling, thymic hormones, regulation of the innate and adaptive bidirectional cooperativity

Kaihong Su obtained her doctorate degree and post-doctoral training from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). After being a faculty member at UAB for 5 years, she joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2008 to continue her research. The long-term goal of her lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms for autoimmune diseases, including SLE and RA. She has published 26 papers in reputed journals and served as ad-hoc reviewer for a number of scientific journals.Biography

Immunology autoimmune diseases autoantibodies and neutrophils Research Interest

John C. Cambier is Distinguished Professor and Chairman of Integrated Department of Immunology at University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and National Jewish Health. He received his BS in 1970 from Southwest Missouri State University and MS in Virology in 1972 and PhD in 1975 from University of Iowa. He received National Research Service Award (NIH) in 1975 and Research Career Development Award (NIH) in 1982. In 2002, he received Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award (NJMRC).

Immunology
Tolerance and autoimmunity
Immune responses

Jin Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology & Immunology at University of Southern California, USA. He has published many scientific papers.

Molecular regulation of immune responses by apoptosis and autophagy Apoptosis pathways in lymphocytes

Upon completion of a MD degree at Beijing Medical University and a PhD degree in Pathology at the University of Wisconsin Madison. 1998 Dr. Yin pursued her clinical residency training in Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Pathology followed by two fellowships in Hematopathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology respectively at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center MDACC. She is board certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology Clinical Pathology Hematology and Molecular Genetic Pathology Dr. Yin is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Hematopathology at MDACC and an assistant professor at Graduate School of Biomedical Science at the University of TexasHouston. In addition to clinical service and fellowship and postdoc education Dr. Yin has been actively participating multiple research projects in leukemia and lymphoma which has led to over 50 research papers editorial reviews and book chapters. She is serving as reviewers for over 10 journals.

Mechanisms of imatinib resistance in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemiaMolecular monitoring of responses to kinase inhibitors in chronic myelogenous leukemiaClinical, morphologic and molecular genetic features of acute myeloid leukemia Immunoglobulin gene rearrangement in acute myeloid leukemiaClinical, morphologic and molecular genetic features of a variety of lymphomasMolecular markers as a tool in the diagnosis, targeted therapy and prognosis in cancer.

Nurieva Roza Insafetdinovna is an assistant professor in the Department of Immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA. She has more than 30 publications.

Immunology