Vinod Balachandran, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Vinod Balachandran completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Cornell University, medical degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, general surgery residency at Weill Cornell’s New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and complex surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). In 2015, he joined MSK as faculty, where he is a laboratory head in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program and an attending hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon. His research aims to discover new immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer.
In 2017, Vinod’s group made the striking observation that exceptional survivors of pancreatic cancer have immune-activated tumors infiltrated with T cells that recognize highly immunogenic mutation-derived neoantigens. As pancreatic cancer, and most solid tumors, were presumed to lack clinically relevant neoantigens, this unexpected discovery has spurred efforts to identify, validate, and deliver immunogenic neoantigens to “therapeutically phenocopy” the exceptional survivor state. His group has spearheaded these efforts, including completion of the first clinical trial of personalized mRNA neoantigen vaccines for pancreatic cancer. The positive results of this trial have ignited global interest in mRNA vaccines as next-generation cancer therapies and reinvigorated vaccine oncology.
For his work, Vinod has received a Trailblazer Award for Clinician-Scientists from the Foundation for the NIH, a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award, a Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators, and a Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Cancer Research, among others.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Vinod Balachandran completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Cornell University, medical degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, general surgery residency at Weill Cornell’s New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and complex surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). In 2015, he joined MSK as faculty, where he is a laboratory head in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program and an attending hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon. His research aims to discover new immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer.
In 2017, Vinod’s group made the striking observation that exceptional survivors of pancreatic cancer have immune-activated tumors infiltrated with T cells that recognize highly immunogenic mutation-derived neoantigens. As pancreatic cancer, and most solid tumors, were presumed to lack clinically relevant neoantigens, this unexpected discovery has spurred efforts to identify, validate, and deliver immunogenic neoantigens to “therapeutically phenocopy” the exceptional survivor state. His group has spearheaded these efforts, including completion of the first clinical trial of personalized mRNA neoantigen vaccines for pancreatic cancer. The positive results of this trial have ignited global interest in mRNA vaccines as next-generation cancer therapies and reinvigorated vaccine oncology.
For his work, Vinod has received a Trailblazer Award for Clinician-Scientists from the Foundation for the NIH, a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award, a Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators, and a Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Cancer Research, among others.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS
University of California, San Francisco
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS is 17th Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for the American Medical Association. She is the Lee Goldman, MD Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. She previously served as the Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and as the inaugural Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Equity in the UCSF School of Medicine. She co-founded the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital that focuses on actionable research to improve health equity and reduce health disparities.
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo is a general internist and cardiovascular epidemiologist whose scholarship includes observational epidemiology, pragmatic trials, and simulation modeling to examine clinical and public health approaches to prevention in the US and globally. She previously served on and led the US Preventive Services Task Force from 2010-2017. She has received numerous honors, including induction into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
University of California, San Francisco
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS is 17th Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for the American Medical Association. She is the Lee Goldman, MD Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. She previously served as the Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and as the inaugural Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Equity in the UCSF School of Medicine. She co-founded the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital that focuses on actionable research to improve health equity and reduce health disparities.
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo is a general internist and cardiovascular epidemiologist whose scholarship includes observational epidemiology, pragmatic trials, and simulation modeling to examine clinical and public health approaches to prevention in the US and globally. She previously served on and led the US Preventive Services Task Force from 2010-2017. She has received numerous honors, including induction into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Susan Buchanan, MD, MPH
University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health
Dr. Susan Buchanan is a clinical associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and an occupational and environmental medicine physician. She directs the Great Lakes Center for Reproductive and Children’s Environmental Health, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Dr. Buchanan is an expert in health problems related to toxic substances and other environmental hazards in the workplace or community. In addition to a clinical practice in the University Health Center at UIC, her research has included the health of minority, low-income, and immigrant workers; and reproductive environmental health. She has published studies on the impact of fish consumption and mercury exposure, the use of protective gear among Latino day-laborers; and lead exposure among Chicago’s children.
University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health
Dr. Susan Buchanan is a clinical associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and an occupational and environmental medicine physician. She directs the Great Lakes Center for Reproductive and Children’s Environmental Health, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Dr. Buchanan is an expert in health problems related to toxic substances and other environmental hazards in the workplace or community. In addition to a clinical practice in the University Health Center at UIC, her research has included the health of minority, low-income, and immigrant workers; and reproductive environmental health. She has published studies on the impact of fish consumption and mercury exposure, the use of protective gear among Latino day-laborers; and lead exposure among Chicago’s children.
Ginny Bumgardner, MD, PhD, FACS
Ohio State University
Ginny L. Bumgardner, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., is the Ohio State University College of Medicine Associate Dean for Physician Scientist Education and Training, Director of the OSU Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and Director of the Department of Surgery’s Research Training Program. She is a tenured Professor and transplant surgeon-scientist in the OSU Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery and Comprehensive Transplant Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Bumgardner earned her undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in French from the College of William and Mary, her M.D. degree from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. during her General Surgery residency at the University of Minnesota. She completed her Transplant Surgery fellowship training at the University of California San Francisco. She has over 29 years of experience in the practice and science of transplantation. Dr. Bumgardner performs abdominal transplant surgery, provides pre- transplant, peri-transplant and post-transplant care and immunosuppression management. In addition to patient care, teaching, and education administrative responsibilities, she directs an NIH-funded Transplant Immunology Laboratory. Dr. Bumgardner is passionate about physician and surgeon-scientist education and training. As the inaugural OSU College of Medicine Associate Dean for Physician Scientist Education & Training she oversees physician scientist training and career development across the spectrum of early-stage trainees to early career faculty. She is Principal Investigator/Program Director for three NIH T32 training grants including the OSU MSTP T32 (MPI), a postdoctoral T32 entitled “Advanced Training in Immunology for Surgical Trainees,” and the OSU CTSA Predoctoral Training Program for the Next Generation of Clinical and Translational Scientists at the Ohio State University. Dr. Bumgardner serves as the President-Elect of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS). She is member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgeon Scientist Program Committee and the new ACS Blue Ribbon Committee II “Training in Research” subcommittee. She was elected to the OSU Mazzaferri-Ellison Society of Master Clinicians in 2020 and received the OSU COM Distinguished Educator Award in 2021.
Ohio State University
Ginny L. Bumgardner, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., is the Ohio State University College of Medicine Associate Dean for Physician Scientist Education and Training, Director of the OSU Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and Director of the Department of Surgery’s Research Training Program. She is a tenured Professor and transplant surgeon-scientist in the OSU Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery and Comprehensive Transplant Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Bumgardner earned her undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in French from the College of William and Mary, her M.D. degree from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. during her General Surgery residency at the University of Minnesota. She completed her Transplant Surgery fellowship training at the University of California San Francisco. She has over 29 years of experience in the practice and science of transplantation. Dr. Bumgardner performs abdominal transplant surgery, provides pre- transplant, peri-transplant and post-transplant care and immunosuppression management. In addition to patient care, teaching, and education administrative responsibilities, she directs an NIH-funded Transplant Immunology Laboratory. Dr. Bumgardner is passionate about physician and surgeon-scientist education and training. As the inaugural OSU College of Medicine Associate Dean for Physician Scientist Education & Training she oversees physician scientist training and career development across the spectrum of early-stage trainees to early career faculty. She is Principal Investigator/Program Director for three NIH T32 training grants including the OSU MSTP T32 (MPI), a postdoctoral T32 entitled “Advanced Training in Immunology for Surgical Trainees,” and the OSU CTSA Predoctoral Training Program for the Next Generation of Clinical and Translational Scientists at the Ohio State University. Dr. Bumgardner serves as the President-Elect of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS). She is member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgeon Scientist Program Committee and the new ACS Blue Ribbon Committee II “Training in Research” subcommittee. She was elected to the OSU Mazzaferri-Ellison Society of Master Clinicians in 2020 and received the OSU COM Distinguished Educator Award in 2021.
Carlos D. Bustamante, PhD
Stanford University
A Venezuelan born entrepreneur, Dr. Carlos Bustamante (Galatea Bio - CEO / Co-Founder) is one of the world’s foremost thought leaders in population genetics and genomics. He received his PhD in Biology and MS in Statistics from Harvard University (2001), was on the faculty at Cornell University (2002-9), and has made tremendous strides in advancing the American biotech infrastructure. Throughout the trajectory of his career, he's played pivotal roles as a Venture Partner at F-Prime Capital, SAB member with Digitalis Ventures, Founder of Arc Bio, advisor to numerous startups, and former Professor of Genetics / Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University (now adjunct). Dr. Bustamante was also awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010 for his contributions to population genetics (mining DNA sequence data to address fundamental questions about mechanisms of evolution, origins of human genetic diversity, and patterns of population migration)
Stanford University
A Venezuelan born entrepreneur, Dr. Carlos Bustamante (Galatea Bio - CEO / Co-Founder) is one of the world’s foremost thought leaders in population genetics and genomics. He received his PhD in Biology and MS in Statistics from Harvard University (2001), was on the faculty at Cornell University (2002-9), and has made tremendous strides in advancing the American biotech infrastructure. Throughout the trajectory of his career, he's played pivotal roles as a Venture Partner at F-Prime Capital, SAB member with Digitalis Ventures, Founder of Arc Bio, advisor to numerous startups, and former Professor of Genetics / Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University (now adjunct). Dr. Bustamante was also awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010 for his contributions to population genetics (mining DNA sequence data to address fundamental questions about mechanisms of evolution, origins of human genetic diversity, and patterns of population migration)
Navdeep Chandel, PhD
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Navdeep S. Chandel PhD is the David W. Cugell Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
His research focuses on elucidating mitochondria beyond ATP production can generate signals to control physiology and diseases. His work reveals that mitochondria can release reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the metabolites in controlling hypoxic responses, cellular differentiation, and immune responses. His research team established that mitochondrial metabolism is necessary for cancer cell, endothelial cell, and T cell proliferation in vivo. Before, the prevailing idea was that only increased aerobic glycolysis was the dominant metabolic pathway in these proliferating cells. Finally, he wrote “Navigating Metabolism” (CSHL Press 2014), an introductory book on metabolism.
He received both his B.A. in Mathematics and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He has received the Ver Steeg Award for outstanding mentorship of students in the Graduate School at Northwestern University. He is a co-recipient of the 2023 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences.
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Navdeep S. Chandel PhD is the David W. Cugell Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
His research focuses on elucidating mitochondria beyond ATP production can generate signals to control physiology and diseases. His work reveals that mitochondria can release reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the metabolites in controlling hypoxic responses, cellular differentiation, and immune responses. His research team established that mitochondrial metabolism is necessary for cancer cell, endothelial cell, and T cell proliferation in vivo. Before, the prevailing idea was that only increased aerobic glycolysis was the dominant metabolic pathway in these proliferating cells. Finally, he wrote “Navigating Metabolism” (CSHL Press 2014), an introductory book on metabolism.
He received both his B.A. in Mathematics and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He has received the Ver Steeg Award for outstanding mentorship of students in the Graduate School at Northwestern University. He is a co-recipient of the 2023 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences.
Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD
Stanford University School of Medicine
Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD, is the recipient of the 2024 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) for his contributions to genome science through his invention of mapping technologies and his discoveries of long non-coding RNAs.
Dr. Chang received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Harvard College and earned his PhD in biology under the mentorship of David Baltimore, PhD, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his MD from Harvard Medical School, after which he completed residency in dermatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He then completed postdoctoral research in genomics at Stanford under the mentorship of Patrick Brown, MD, PhD.
Dr. Chang is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Stanford University, where he is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research; Director, Center for Personal Dynamic Regulomes; and Founding Director, RNA Medicine Program. Among other honors, he is recipient of the Judson Daland Prize of the American Philosophical Society (2014), the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research (2015), the National Cancer Institute’s Outstanding Investigator Award (2016), the National Academy of Sciences’ Award in Molecular Biology (2018), and the King Faisal Prize for Science (2024). He was elected to the ASCI in 2009, the National Academy of Medicine in 2017, and to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.
Stanford University School of Medicine
Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD, is the recipient of the 2024 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) for his contributions to genome science through his invention of mapping technologies and his discoveries of long non-coding RNAs.
Dr. Chang received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Harvard College and earned his PhD in biology under the mentorship of David Baltimore, PhD, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his MD from Harvard Medical School, after which he completed residency in dermatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He then completed postdoctoral research in genomics at Stanford under the mentorship of Patrick Brown, MD, PhD.
Dr. Chang is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Stanford University, where he is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research; Director, Center for Personal Dynamic Regulomes; and Founding Director, RNA Medicine Program. Among other honors, he is recipient of the Judson Daland Prize of the American Philosophical Society (2014), the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research (2015), the National Cancer Institute’s Outstanding Investigator Award (2016), the National Academy of Sciences’ Award in Molecular Biology (2018), and the King Faisal Prize for Science (2024). He was elected to the ASCI in 2009, the National Academy of Medicine in 2017, and to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.
Zhijian James Chen, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern
Zhijian ‘James’ Chen is an Investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He is also Director of Inflammation Research Center and George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science at UT Southwestern. Prior to moving to Dallas, Chen was a senior scientist at ProScript Inc. where he helped discover the proteasome inhibitor VELCADE, a medicine used for the treatment of multiple myeloma. After joining UT Southwestern in 1997, Chen discovered the regulatory role of ubiquitination in protein kinase activation in the NF-B and MAP kinase pathways. In addition, he discovered the Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling (MAVS) protein that reveals a new role of mitochondria in immunity. More recently, Chen discovered cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) as a cytosolic DNA sensor and a new cyclic di-nucleotide signaling pathway that mediate innate immune responses in animal cells. For his work, Chen has received numerous honors including the National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology (2012), the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Merck Award (2015), the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences from the Foundation of NIH (2018), the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2019), the Switzer Prize (2019), the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology (2020) and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2023). Chen is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Zhijian “James” Chen’s research into complex cellular biochemistry has led to the discovery of pathways and proteins that trigger immune and stress responses. Chen has identified proteins, such as the mitochondrial protein MAVS, that are crucial to the body’s defense against RNA viruses such as influenza and Ebola. Now, Chen and his team are dissecting a signaling pathway involving a novel DNA sensor – cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase, or cGAS – which activates an interferon response that may play a role in immune defense against pathogens and malignant cells, as well as in autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Treatment of these autoimmune diseases could involve chemical inhibition of cGAS, whereas cGAMP and its derivatives may be used as adjuvants for vaccines and cancer immunotherapies.
University of Texas Southwestern
Zhijian ‘James’ Chen is an Investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He is also Director of Inflammation Research Center and George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science at UT Southwestern. Prior to moving to Dallas, Chen was a senior scientist at ProScript Inc. where he helped discover the proteasome inhibitor VELCADE, a medicine used for the treatment of multiple myeloma. After joining UT Southwestern in 1997, Chen discovered the regulatory role of ubiquitination in protein kinase activation in the NF-B and MAP kinase pathways. In addition, he discovered the Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling (MAVS) protein that reveals a new role of mitochondria in immunity. More recently, Chen discovered cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) as a cytosolic DNA sensor and a new cyclic di-nucleotide signaling pathway that mediate innate immune responses in animal cells. For his work, Chen has received numerous honors including the National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology (2012), the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Merck Award (2015), the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences from the Foundation of NIH (2018), the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2019), the Switzer Prize (2019), the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology (2020) and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2023). Chen is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Zhijian “James” Chen’s research into complex cellular biochemistry has led to the discovery of pathways and proteins that trigger immune and stress responses. Chen has identified proteins, such as the mitochondrial protein MAVS, that are crucial to the body’s defense against RNA viruses such as influenza and Ebola. Now, Chen and his team are dissecting a signaling pathway involving a novel DNA sensor – cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase, or cGAS – which activates an interferon response that may play a role in immune defense against pathogens and malignant cells, as well as in autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Treatment of these autoimmune diseases could involve chemical inhibition of cGAS, whereas cGAMP and its derivatives may be used as adjuvants for vaccines and cancer immunotherapies.
Wendy K. Chung, MD, PhD
Boston Children's Hospital
Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D. is a clinical and molecular geneticist and the Chief of the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chung directs NIH funded research programs in human genetics of pulmonary hypertension, breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, autism, birth defects including congenital diaphragmatic hernia and congenital heart disease. She is a national leader in the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomics. She was the recipient of the Rare Impact Award from the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Physicians.
Boston Children's Hospital
Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D. is a clinical and molecular geneticist and the Chief of the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chung directs NIH funded research programs in human genetics of pulmonary hypertension, breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, autism, birth defects including congenital diaphragmatic hernia and congenital heart disease. She is a national leader in the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomics. She was the recipient of the Rare Impact Award from the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Physicians.
Kathleen Collins, MD, PhD
University of Michigan
Kathy Collins, MD, PhD is the Associate Dean for Physician Scientist Education and Training, MSTP Director, and Professor of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology.
Kathy is a graduate of Wellesley College (BA in Molecular Biology) and the Johns Hopkins University MD/PhD program. Dr. Collins undertook residency training in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious disease at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA. She has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 1998 and was appointed Director of the MSTP in 2020. She is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), The American Association of Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCI journal, JCI Insight. Dr. Collins is active in basic research and the teaching of graduate students. Research in the Collins lab focuses on molecular mechanisms of HIV immune evasion and persistence. In 2019, she was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Basic Research.
University of Michigan
Kathy Collins, MD, PhD is the Associate Dean for Physician Scientist Education and Training, MSTP Director, and Professor of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology.
Kathy is a graduate of Wellesley College (BA in Molecular Biology) and the Johns Hopkins University MD/PhD program. Dr. Collins undertook residency training in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious disease at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA. She has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 1998 and was appointed Director of the MSTP in 2020. She is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), The American Association of Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCI journal, JCI Insight. Dr. Collins is active in basic research and the teaching of graduate students. Research in the Collins lab focuses on molecular mechanisms of HIV immune evasion and persistence. In 2019, she was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Basic Research.
Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Crews is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, with appointments in the School of Nursing; the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research; the Center on Aging and Health; and the Center for Health Equity, where she is Associate Director for Research Development. Her epidemiological and clinical work on kidney disease and hypertension has informed clinical guidelines and has had a major influence on the study of social drivers of disparities in chronic kidney disease. Contributing to the reversal of a trend toward starting patients on dialysis when they still had significant residual kidney function, Dr. Crews’ studies addressing the optimal level of kidney function at which dialysis should be initiated have been cited in US guidelines
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Crews is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, with appointments in the School of Nursing; the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research; the Center on Aging and Health; and the Center for Health Equity, where she is Associate Director for Research Development. Her epidemiological and clinical work on kidney disease and hypertension has informed clinical guidelines and has had a major influence on the study of social drivers of disparities in chronic kidney disease. Contributing to the reversal of a trend toward starting patients on dialysis when they still had significant residual kidney function, Dr. Crews’ studies addressing the optimal level of kidney function at which dialysis should be initiated have been cited in US guidelines
Jeffrey Flier, MD
Harvard Medical School
A distinguished endocrinologist, researcher, and leader in the field of academic medicine, Dr. Flier served, from 2007 and 2016, as the 21st Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Harvard University. A leading authority on the molecular causes of diabetes and obesity, Dr. Flier is now the Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and the George Higginson Professor of Physiology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Before being named Dean, he served as head of the division of endocrinology and then Chief Academic Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a major Harvard clinical and research affiliate. Recently Professor Flier has been researching and writing about issues of broad importance to the health professions, including the future of medicine and the health care workforce, challenges to the ecosystem of biomedical research, and issues pertinent to the future of higher education.
Dr. Flier received a BS from City College New York and an MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he graduated with the Elster Award for Highest Academic Standing. He completed training in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in NY, followed by four years as a Clinical Associate in the Diabetes Branch at the NIH, and then began his career on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital in 1978.
He has authored more 200 scholarly papers and reviews. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Flier’s honors also include the Eli Lilly Award of the American Diabetes Association, the Berson Lecture of the American Physiological Society, the Rolf Luft Award from the Karolinska Institute, and honorary doctorates from the University of Athens and the University of Edinburgh. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Edwin B. Astwood Lecture Award from the Endocrine Society and, in 2005, he received the Banting Medal, the highest scientific honor awarded by the American Diabetes Association.
Dr. Flier has served on the boards of a number of not for profit and for profit organizations in the areas of education and biopharmaceuticals.
Harvard Medical School
A distinguished endocrinologist, researcher, and leader in the field of academic medicine, Dr. Flier served, from 2007 and 2016, as the 21st Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Harvard University. A leading authority on the molecular causes of diabetes and obesity, Dr. Flier is now the Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and the George Higginson Professor of Physiology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Before being named Dean, he served as head of the division of endocrinology and then Chief Academic Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a major Harvard clinical and research affiliate. Recently Professor Flier has been researching and writing about issues of broad importance to the health professions, including the future of medicine and the health care workforce, challenges to the ecosystem of biomedical research, and issues pertinent to the future of higher education.
Dr. Flier received a BS from City College New York and an MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he graduated with the Elster Award for Highest Academic Standing. He completed training in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in NY, followed by four years as a Clinical Associate in the Diabetes Branch at the NIH, and then began his career on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital in 1978.
He has authored more 200 scholarly papers and reviews. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Flier’s honors also include the Eli Lilly Award of the American Diabetes Association, the Berson Lecture of the American Physiological Society, the Rolf Luft Award from the Karolinska Institute, and honorary doctorates from the University of Athens and the University of Edinburgh. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Edwin B. Astwood Lecture Award from the Endocrine Society and, in 2005, he received the Banting Medal, the highest scientific honor awarded by the American Diabetes Association.
Dr. Flier has served on the boards of a number of not for profit and for profit organizations in the areas of education and biopharmaceuticals.
Alessia Fornoni, MD, PhD
University of Miami
Dr. Fornoni is a Professor of Medicine, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, and Biochemistry at the
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is the Chief of the Katz Family Division of Nephrology
and Hypertension. She also serves as the Director and Chair of the Peggy and Harold Katz Drug Discovery
Center. Dr. Fornoni gained experience in drug development at Hoffman-La Roche in Basel, and she is the
funding scientist of several start-up companies. Her research is supported by grants from the NIH, industry,
and private foundations. She has received prestigious awards; among them, she is a member of the
American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI, 2017), the Association of American Physicians (AAP, 2021),
and the Florida Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (ASEMFL, 2023). She is the Deputy Editor
of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and the Scientific Chair of the 2024 World Congress
of Nephrology. Recipient of multiple mentorship awards, her trainees occupy leadership roles in multiple
academic institutions around the globe. Her role as Co-Director of the MD/Ph.D. MSTP program, the CTSI
KL2 program, and the Director of an NIH-funded summer school of Nephrology strongly reflect her interest
and passion in mentoring students and junior faculty toward a successful academic career. Through her
pioneering work on insulin signaling, cholesterol metabolism, and sphingolipid-related pathways, Dr.
Fornoni uncovered novel pathogenetic mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for glomerular disorders
that have successfully translated into ongoing clinical trials.
University of Miami
Dr. Fornoni is a Professor of Medicine, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, and Biochemistry at the
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is the Chief of the Katz Family Division of Nephrology
and Hypertension. She also serves as the Director and Chair of the Peggy and Harold Katz Drug Discovery
Center. Dr. Fornoni gained experience in drug development at Hoffman-La Roche in Basel, and she is the
funding scientist of several start-up companies. Her research is supported by grants from the NIH, industry,
and private foundations. She has received prestigious awards; among them, she is a member of the
American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI, 2017), the Association of American Physicians (AAP, 2021),
and the Florida Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (ASEMFL, 2023). She is the Deputy Editor
of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and the Scientific Chair of the 2024 World Congress
of Nephrology. Recipient of multiple mentorship awards, her trainees occupy leadership roles in multiple
academic institutions around the globe. Her role as Co-Director of the MD/Ph.D. MSTP program, the CTSI
KL2 program, and the Director of an NIH-funded summer school of Nephrology strongly reflect her interest
and passion in mentoring students and junior faculty toward a successful academic career. Through her
pioneering work on insulin signaling, cholesterol metabolism, and sphingolipid-related pathways, Dr.
Fornoni uncovered novel pathogenetic mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for glomerular disorders
that have successfully translated into ongoing clinical trials.
Caroline Fox, MD, MPH
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Caroline is Senior Vice President and Head of Genetics and Target Discovery at Quotient Therapeutics, a Flagship Pioneering Company, where she is also a Senior Fellow. At Quotient, Caroline provides leadership and strategic direction to the genomics platform, data science, and data infrastructure teams. She also oversees all indication selection and target assessments and triage. Prior to Quotient, Caroline was Vice President and Head of the Genome and Biomarkers Science group at Merck. There, she directed a global, cross-functional team capitalizing on genetics, genomics, data science, and biomarkers to drive drug discovery and development across the entire R&D pipeline. Prior to entering industry, Caroline was a Tenured Senior Scientist in the Laboratory for Population and Metabolic Health, as well as Deputy Branch Chief in the Population Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood (NHLBI) Division of Intramural Research. There, she developed and directed a research program focused on diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease in the Framingham Heart Study. Caroline received her BA in English from the University of Michigan, her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and her MD from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, where she also completed a fellowship in Endocrinology. Caroline has published over 400 original, peer-reviewed papers, is an inducted member of the American Society for Clinical Investigators, was named on the Thomson Reuters “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” from 2014-2020, and is ranked the 18th top female scientist in the world by Research.com. She also maintained an active diabetology clinical practice at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital until 2022. Caroline lives outside of Boston, MA with her husband, 3 children, and a very small but mighty dog. She enjoys running, swimming, reading, and traveling when she’s not working.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Caroline is Senior Vice President and Head of Genetics and Target Discovery at Quotient Therapeutics, a Flagship Pioneering Company, where she is also a Senior Fellow. At Quotient, Caroline provides leadership and strategic direction to the genomics platform, data science, and data infrastructure teams. She also oversees all indication selection and target assessments and triage. Prior to Quotient, Caroline was Vice President and Head of the Genome and Biomarkers Science group at Merck. There, she directed a global, cross-functional team capitalizing on genetics, genomics, data science, and biomarkers to drive drug discovery and development across the entire R&D pipeline. Prior to entering industry, Caroline was a Tenured Senior Scientist in the Laboratory for Population and Metabolic Health, as well as Deputy Branch Chief in the Population Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood (NHLBI) Division of Intramural Research. There, she developed and directed a research program focused on diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease in the Framingham Heart Study. Caroline received her BA in English from the University of Michigan, her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and her MD from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, where she also completed a fellowship in Endocrinology. Caroline has published over 400 original, peer-reviewed papers, is an inducted member of the American Society for Clinical Investigators, was named on the Thomson Reuters “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” from 2014-2020, and is ranked the 18th top female scientist in the world by Research.com. She also maintained an active diabetology clinical practice at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital until 2022. Caroline lives outside of Boston, MA with her husband, 3 children, and a very small but mighty dog. She enjoys running, swimming, reading, and traveling when she’s not working.
Wendy Laurel Freedman, FRS
University of Chicago
Wendy Laurel Freedman, FRS, is the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics and the College, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, at the University of Chicago. She is an observational cosmologist renowned for her research on the Hubble Constant–the rate at which the universe is expanding over time. Two decades ago, she led a team of 30 astronomers who carried out the Hubble Key Project to measure the current expansion rate of the universe, resolving a longstanding debate regarding previously wide-ranging estimates. She served as the founding chair of the board of directors from 2003 to 2015 for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Her current interest is directed at increasing the accuracy of measurements of the expansion rate using the James Webb Space Telescope and testing whether there is new fundamental early-universe physics missing from the current standard model of cosmology. Dr. Freedman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
University of Chicago
Wendy Laurel Freedman, FRS, is the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics and the College, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, at the University of Chicago. She is an observational cosmologist renowned for her research on the Hubble Constant–the rate at which the universe is expanding over time. Two decades ago, she led a team of 30 astronomers who carried out the Hubble Key Project to measure the current expansion rate of the universe, resolving a longstanding debate regarding previously wide-ranging estimates. She served as the founding chair of the board of directors from 2003 to 2015 for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Her current interest is directed at increasing the accuracy of measurements of the expansion rate using the James Webb Space Telescope and testing whether there is new fundamental early-universe physics missing from the current standard model of cosmology. Dr. Freedman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Wendy Sarah Garrett, MD, PhD
Harvard School of Public Health
Dr. Garrett is the inaugural recipient of the ASCI / Marian W. Ropes, MD, Award, for her scientific contributions to the understanding of diseases related to perturbations in the balance between the immune system and microbiome.
Dr. Garrett founded the Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center and co-leads a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenges Award — including more than 100 North American and European researchers — to study colon cancer and the gut microbiome. As associate director of the immunology graduate program at Harvard Medical School, she has taken on leadership roles for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging — as a mentor for women and postdoctoral fellows underrepresented in biomedical sciences.
Dr. Garrett received her BS, MS, MD, and PhD from Yale University. She completed her clinical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fellowship at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; her research fellowship was at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). She is Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at HSPH and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Garrett was elected to the ASCI in 2020.
Harvard School of Public Health
Dr. Garrett is the inaugural recipient of the ASCI / Marian W. Ropes, MD, Award, for her scientific contributions to the understanding of diseases related to perturbations in the balance between the immune system and microbiome.
Dr. Garrett founded the Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center and co-leads a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenges Award — including more than 100 North American and European researchers — to study colon cancer and the gut microbiome. As associate director of the immunology graduate program at Harvard Medical School, she has taken on leadership roles for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging — as a mentor for women and postdoctoral fellows underrepresented in biomedical sciences.
Dr. Garrett received her BS, MS, MD, and PhD from Yale University. She completed her clinical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fellowship at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; her research fellowship was at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). She is Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at HSPH and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Garrett was elected to the ASCI in 2020.
David Ginsburg, MD
University of Michigan School of Medicine
David Ginsburg is James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine, a member of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He received his B.A. degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1974 and his M.D. degree from Duke University School of Medicine in 1978. Dr. Ginsburg is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, Oncology, and Clinical Genetics. His postdoctoral clinical and research training was at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ginsburg joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor in 1985.
Dr. Ginsburg’s laboratory studies the components of the blood-clotting system and how disturbances in their function lead to human bleeding and blood-clotting disorders. The lab has studied the molecular basis of the common disorder von Willebrand disease and is identifying modifier genes that control severity for this and related diseases. The lab has also defined mutations in ADAMTS13, an enzyme that processes von Willebrand factor, as the cause of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia Purpura. The lab also studies the plasminogen activation system, the mechanism by which blood clots are broken down, and has explored the role of this system in a variety of disease processes including atherosclerosis and microbial infection. Finally, studies of the bleeding disease combined deficiency of factors V and VIII identified mutations in a novel pathway for the transport of a select subset of proteins from the ER to the Golgi, leading the Ginsburg lab to further exploration of the intracellular secretory machinery and its role in human disease.
Dr. Ginsburg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and recipient of the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize and Stratton Medal from the American Society of Hematology, the Basic Research Prize and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association, the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the AAMC Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences, and the Lucian Award from McGill University. Dr. Ginsburg has served on multiple Editorial Boards and Advisory Councils in both academics and industry including the Board of Directors for Shire plc. He is a past president of the ASCI and has served on the Councils for the AAP, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine.
University of Michigan School of Medicine
David Ginsburg is James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine, a member of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He received his B.A. degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1974 and his M.D. degree from Duke University School of Medicine in 1978. Dr. Ginsburg is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, Oncology, and Clinical Genetics. His postdoctoral clinical and research training was at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ginsburg joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor in 1985.
Dr. Ginsburg’s laboratory studies the components of the blood-clotting system and how disturbances in their function lead to human bleeding and blood-clotting disorders. The lab has studied the molecular basis of the common disorder von Willebrand disease and is identifying modifier genes that control severity for this and related diseases. The lab has also defined mutations in ADAMTS13, an enzyme that processes von Willebrand factor, as the cause of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia Purpura. The lab also studies the plasminogen activation system, the mechanism by which blood clots are broken down, and has explored the role of this system in a variety of disease processes including atherosclerosis and microbial infection. Finally, studies of the bleeding disease combined deficiency of factors V and VIII identified mutations in a novel pathway for the transport of a select subset of proteins from the ER to the Golgi, leading the Ginsburg lab to further exploration of the intracellular secretory machinery and its role in human disease.
Dr. Ginsburg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and recipient of the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize and Stratton Medal from the American Society of Hematology, the Basic Research Prize and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association, the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the AAMC Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences, and the Lucian Award from McGill University. Dr. Ginsburg has served on multiple Editorial Boards and Advisory Councils in both academics and industry including the Board of Directors for Shire plc. He is a past president of the ASCI and has served on the Councils for the AAP, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine.
Rohini Guin
Stony Brook University
Rohini Guin is a second-year MD/PhD candidate at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and pursuing an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Science Communication through the Alan Alda Center. Her research interests lie in identifying the immune determinants of cancer, autoimmune conditions, and infectious diseases. She is passionate about groundbreaking science, but recognizes science alone cannot address health inequities and the access to medicines crisis. As such, she is heavily involved in organized medicine through the American Medical Association to advocate for better patient care and physician-led treatment. She is also working to develop an asylum clinic to support asylum seekers on Long Island. She currently conducts diplomacy-centered research with the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium to understand the role of the non-governmental sector in augmenting global health security. She hopes to develop actionable policy that can bring meaningful healthcare reform both domestically and abroad. Within APSA, she serves as the current Fundraising Chair and the Virtual Content Vice-Chair, and leverages these positions to continue providing high-quality training materials and travel grants to support future cohorts of physician-scientists. In her free time, Rohini enjoys reading, painting, and hiking.
Stony Brook University
Rohini Guin is a second-year MD/PhD candidate at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and pursuing an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Science Communication through the Alan Alda Center. Her research interests lie in identifying the immune determinants of cancer, autoimmune conditions, and infectious diseases. She is passionate about groundbreaking science, but recognizes science alone cannot address health inequities and the access to medicines crisis. As such, she is heavily involved in organized medicine through the American Medical Association to advocate for better patient care and physician-led treatment. She is also working to develop an asylum clinic to support asylum seekers on Long Island. She currently conducts diplomacy-centered research with the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium to understand the role of the non-governmental sector in augmenting global health security. She hopes to develop actionable policy that can bring meaningful healthcare reform both domestically and abroad. Within APSA, she serves as the current Fundraising Chair and the Virtual Content Vice-Chair, and leverages these positions to continue providing high-quality training materials and travel grants to support future cohorts of physician-scientists. In her free time, Rohini enjoys reading, painting, and hiking.
Tamia A. Harris-Tryon, MD, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Tamia A. Harris-Tryon, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist at UT Southwestern and principal investigator of the Harris-Tryon lab. She earned her MD and PhD at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed a residency in Dermatology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Certified by the American Board of Dermatology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2014 and began postdoctoral training in the HHMI lab of Lora Hooper. In her postdoctoral work, she made use of a unique model system- germ free mice. Through use of this system, her data showed that the protein RELMα is bactericidal in skin, and that vitamin A impacts the expression of RELMα (Cell Host & Microbe 2019). Since starting her own lab in 2018, Dr. Harris-Tryon has created a unique research platform bridging the fields of immunology, microbiology, and metabolism, with a focus on the interface between the skin surface and the community of microbes that colonize the skin niche. Her lab is particularly interested in the study of sebaceous glands – specialized epithelial structures that generate an oily mixture of lipids and proteins, called sebum. In addition to producing sebum, sebaceous glands secrete antimicrobial proteins that limit colonization of the skin by bacteria. They also secrete steroid hormones and lipids that have direct impact on the microbes present at the skin surface. Through basic research, her lab aims to unlock how diet and the immune system alter skin epithelial biology and the impact of these changes on the microbiome. Ultimately, her goal is to translate discoveries from the bench into new therapies for individuals with inflammatory skin diseases. Her work is supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She is prior recipient of the ASCI, Young Physician Scientist Award and an American Academy of Dermatology Young Investigator Award.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Tamia A. Harris-Tryon, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist at UT Southwestern and principal investigator of the Harris-Tryon lab. She earned her MD and PhD at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed a residency in Dermatology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Certified by the American Board of Dermatology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2014 and began postdoctoral training in the HHMI lab of Lora Hooper. In her postdoctoral work, she made use of a unique model system- germ free mice. Through use of this system, her data showed that the protein RELMα is bactericidal in skin, and that vitamin A impacts the expression of RELMα (Cell Host & Microbe 2019). Since starting her own lab in 2018, Dr. Harris-Tryon has created a unique research platform bridging the fields of immunology, microbiology, and metabolism, with a focus on the interface between the skin surface and the community of microbes that colonize the skin niche. Her lab is particularly interested in the study of sebaceous glands – specialized epithelial structures that generate an oily mixture of lipids and proteins, called sebum. In addition to producing sebum, sebaceous glands secrete antimicrobial proteins that limit colonization of the skin by bacteria. They also secrete steroid hormones and lipids that have direct impact on the microbes present at the skin surface. Through basic research, her lab aims to unlock how diet and the immune system alter skin epithelial biology and the impact of these changes on the microbiome. Ultimately, her goal is to translate discoveries from the bench into new therapies for individuals with inflammatory skin diseases. Her work is supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She is prior recipient of the ASCI, Young Physician Scientist Award and an American Academy of Dermatology Young Investigator Award.
Priscilla Hsue, MD
UCSF/ Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
Dr. Priscilla Hsue is the Maurice Eliaser Jr MD Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Chief of Cardiology, UCSF at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. She is an international expert in the cardiovascular consequences of HIV infection and started her career by establishing an HIV cardiology clinic and is one of a few cardiologists around the world with both clinical and research expertise in this area. Her research interest is in the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and treatment of cardiovascular disease and inflammation in HIV. As an investigator, Dr. Hsue leads a multidisciplinary team which encompasses a broad portfolio of clinical and translational studies on inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and viral infection. She has performed clinical trials of anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and lipid lowering therapies in the setting of HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, and recently, COVID-19. Dr. Hsue has had continuous NIH funding since 2005 and is currently PI and Co-I on numerous NIH grants, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and industry funding. She has published widely in the area of HIV-related cardiovascular disease and inflammation including publications in NEJM, Circulation, JACC, Jama Cardiology, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and AIDS. She has been Chair of the Clinical and Integrative Cardiovascular Science study section at NHLBI, a member of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council at NIH, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, and a current member of the NIH/NHLBI Single Site and Pilot Clinical Trials Review Committee. Currently, Dr. Hsue serves as Co-Director of the Center for Excellence in Vascular Research, is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (and is the Secretary-Treasurer of this organization), and is also a member of the Association of University Cardiologists, Association of American Physicians, ImmunoX, and CVRI. She is an Associate Program Director of the UCSF Cardiology Fellowship program, serves on the UCSF Medical School Admissions Committee, and has had the privilege of mentoring numerous students, residents, fellows, and faculty and has been recognized by multiple mentoring awards and grants.
UCSF/ Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
Dr. Priscilla Hsue is the Maurice Eliaser Jr MD Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Chief of Cardiology, UCSF at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. She is an international expert in the cardiovascular consequences of HIV infection and started her career by establishing an HIV cardiology clinic and is one of a few cardiologists around the world with both clinical and research expertise in this area. Her research interest is in the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and treatment of cardiovascular disease and inflammation in HIV. As an investigator, Dr. Hsue leads a multidisciplinary team which encompasses a broad portfolio of clinical and translational studies on inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and viral infection. She has performed clinical trials of anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and lipid lowering therapies in the setting of HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, and recently, COVID-19. Dr. Hsue has had continuous NIH funding since 2005 and is currently PI and Co-I on numerous NIH grants, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and industry funding. She has published widely in the area of HIV-related cardiovascular disease and inflammation including publications in NEJM, Circulation, JACC, Jama Cardiology, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and AIDS. She has been Chair of the Clinical and Integrative Cardiovascular Science study section at NHLBI, a member of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council at NIH, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, and a current member of the NIH/NHLBI Single Site and Pilot Clinical Trials Review Committee. Currently, Dr. Hsue serves as Co-Director of the Center for Excellence in Vascular Research, is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (and is the Secretary-Treasurer of this organization), and is also a member of the Association of University Cardiologists, Association of American Physicians, ImmunoX, and CVRI. She is an Associate Program Director of the UCSF Cardiology Fellowship program, serves on the UCSF Medical School Admissions Committee, and has had the privilege of mentoring numerous students, residents, fellows, and faculty and has been recognized by multiple mentoring awards and grants.
David Huang, MD, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. David Huang is the Director of Research of Casey Eye Institute, the Wold Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmic Imaging, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Huang leads the Center for Ophthalmic Optics and Lasers (www.COOLLab.net), which comprises 6 faculty members engaged in both technology development and clinical research. He is a practicing ophthalmologist specializing in cornea and refractive surgery.
Dr. Huang is known for his innovations in applying laser and optical technology to eye diseases. He is a co-inventor of optical coherence tomography (OCT), a commonly used ophthalmic imaging technology with 40 million procedures performed annually worldwide. His seminal article on OCT, published in Science in 1991, has been cited more than 18,000 times. Dr. Huang contributed to many advancements in OCT technology and clinical application, including polarization-sensitive OCT, anterior eye OCT, macular OCT for glaucoma evaluation, Doppler OCT for retinal blood flow measurement, and OCT angiography in eye diseases. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed articles with over 60,000 citations (H-index 95) and holds 42 US patents. Dr. Huang has received the Champalimaud Vision Award, the Friedenwald Award from the Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology, the Russ Prize from the National Academy of Engineering, the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award - one of the United States’ most prestigious biomedical research award, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation – the nation’s highest honor bestowed by the President on technology innovators. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Ophthalmological Society. He is a cofounder of Gobiquity, maker of the GoCheck Kids smartphone app that has screened more than 5 million preschool children for amblyopia risk factors.
Dr. Huang earned BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, and MD-PhD degrees from the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. He received ophthalmology residency training at the Doheny Eye Institute/University of Southern California and cornea fellowship training at Emory University.
Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. David Huang is the Director of Research of Casey Eye Institute, the Wold Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmic Imaging, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Huang leads the Center for Ophthalmic Optics and Lasers (www.COOLLab.net), which comprises 6 faculty members engaged in both technology development and clinical research. He is a practicing ophthalmologist specializing in cornea and refractive surgery.
Dr. Huang is known for his innovations in applying laser and optical technology to eye diseases. He is a co-inventor of optical coherence tomography (OCT), a commonly used ophthalmic imaging technology with 40 million procedures performed annually worldwide. His seminal article on OCT, published in Science in 1991, has been cited more than 18,000 times. Dr. Huang contributed to many advancements in OCT technology and clinical application, including polarization-sensitive OCT, anterior eye OCT, macular OCT for glaucoma evaluation, Doppler OCT for retinal blood flow measurement, and OCT angiography in eye diseases. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed articles with over 60,000 citations (H-index 95) and holds 42 US patents. Dr. Huang has received the Champalimaud Vision Award, the Friedenwald Award from the Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology, the Russ Prize from the National Academy of Engineering, the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award - one of the United States’ most prestigious biomedical research award, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation – the nation’s highest honor bestowed by the President on technology innovators. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Ophthalmological Society. He is a cofounder of Gobiquity, maker of the GoCheck Kids smartphone app that has screened more than 5 million preschool children for amblyopia risk factors.
Dr. Huang earned BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, and MD-PhD degrees from the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. He received ophthalmology residency training at the Doheny Eye Institute/University of Southern California and cornea fellowship training at Emory University.
Benjamin Humphreys, MD, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine
Dr. Humphreys is Chief of the Division of Nephrology at Washington University in St. Louis and the Joseph P. Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine. He received his AB from Harvard College in English and American Literature and his MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University. He trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and in nephrology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He joined the faculty in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2005 and relocated to Washington University in 2015. Dr. Humphreys’ lab focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of kidney injury and repair. Current efforts in the laboratory focus on applying single cell multiomics approaches to understand human acute and chronic kidney diseases. As director of a T32 training grant, he is committed to mentorship of physician scientists at all training levels. He serves as a faculty mentor for the Washington University MSTP, primary mentor for two K08 recipients and on a variety of physician scientist thesis and advisory committees. Beyond these activities, he has led organizational initiatives through service as program chair for the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting, service on several editorial boards and as a member of the Washington University Academy of Educators where he served as Chair of the Mentorship sub-committee. He is a regular reviewer on NIH study sections and is a member the Board of Scientific Counselors for NIDDK. Most recently he served on the ASCI Council as Secretary-Treasurer and he is deeply committed to the mission of the society.
Washington University School of Medicine
Dr. Humphreys is Chief of the Division of Nephrology at Washington University in St. Louis and the Joseph P. Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine. He received his AB from Harvard College in English and American Literature and his MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University. He trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and in nephrology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He joined the faculty in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2005 and relocated to Washington University in 2015. Dr. Humphreys’ lab focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of kidney injury and repair. Current efforts in the laboratory focus on applying single cell multiomics approaches to understand human acute and chronic kidney diseases. As director of a T32 training grant, he is committed to mentorship of physician scientists at all training levels. He serves as a faculty mentor for the Washington University MSTP, primary mentor for two K08 recipients and on a variety of physician scientist thesis and advisory committees. Beyond these activities, he has led organizational initiatives through service as program chair for the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting, service on several editorial boards and as a member of the Washington University Academy of Educators where he served as Chair of the Mentorship sub-committee. He is a regular reviewer on NIH study sections and is a member the Board of Scientific Counselors for NIDDK. Most recently he served on the ASCI Council as Secretary-Treasurer and he is deeply committed to the mission of the society.
John P.A. Ioannidis, MD, DSc
Stanford Medicine
Professor of Medicine, of Epidemiology and Population Health, and (by courtesy) of Biomedical Data Science and of Statistics at Stanford University and co-Director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS). Recipient of many awards, including European Award for Excellence in Clinical Science; Medal for Distinguished Service, Teachers College, Columbia University; Chanchlani Global Health Award;, Epiphany Science Courage Award; Einstein fellow; Gordon award for epidemiology at NIH; Albert Stuyvenberg Medal; Harwood Prize for Intellectual Courage; European Research Agency chair holder. Inducted in multiple academies including the National Academy of Medicine and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and awarded honorary doctorates from Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Athens, University of Tilburg, University of Edinburgh and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Stanford Medicine
Professor of Medicine, of Epidemiology and Population Health, and (by courtesy) of Biomedical Data Science and of Statistics at Stanford University and co-Director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS). Recipient of many awards, including European Award for Excellence in Clinical Science; Medal for Distinguished Service, Teachers College, Columbia University; Chanchlani Global Health Award;, Epiphany Science Courage Award; Einstein fellow; Gordon award for epidemiology at NIH; Albert Stuyvenberg Medal; Harwood Prize for Intellectual Courage; European Research Agency chair holder. Inducted in multiple academies including the National Academy of Medicine and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and awarded honorary doctorates from Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Athens, University of Tilburg, University of Edinburgh and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD
Yale University
Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D., is a Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Canada and her postdoctoral training from the National Institutes of Health. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at the mucosal surfaces, and the development of mucosal vaccine strategies. She is the co-Lead Investigator of the Yale COVID-19 Recovery Study, which aims to determine the changes in the immune response of people with long COVID after vaccination. Dr. Iwasaki also leads multiple other studies to interrogate the pathobiology of long COVID, both in patients, and through developing animal models of long COVID. Dr. Iwasaki was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018, to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019, to the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2021, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Yale University
Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D., is a Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Canada and her postdoctoral training from the National Institutes of Health. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at the mucosal surfaces, and the development of mucosal vaccine strategies. She is the co-Lead Investigator of the Yale COVID-19 Recovery Study, which aims to determine the changes in the immune response of people with long COVID after vaccination. Dr. Iwasaki also leads multiple other studies to interrogate the pathobiology of long COVID, both in patients, and through developing animal models of long COVID. Dr. Iwasaki was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018, to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019, to the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2021, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Dr. Izar is a medical oncologist and the Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. His lab studies the intersection of cancer immunology, tumor genomics, and metastatic organotropism. These factors dictate clinical drug responses/resistance to existing and investigational targeted and immune-based therapies; his laboratory has published several landmark studies in this field. Dr. Izar has an active clinical practice focusing on treating patients with melanoma, and, as member of the early drug development program, other solid tumors. He is the PI on immunotherapy trials in this space and holds several patents pertaining to the development of novel cancer therapies.
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Dr. Izar is a medical oncologist and the Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. His lab studies the intersection of cancer immunology, tumor genomics, and metastatic organotropism. These factors dictate clinical drug responses/resistance to existing and investigational targeted and immune-based therapies; his laboratory has published several landmark studies in this field. Dr. Izar has an active clinical practice focusing on treating patients with melanoma, and, as member of the early drug development program, other solid tumors. He is the PI on immunotherapy trials in this space and holds several patents pertaining to the development of novel cancer therapies.
Daniel L. Kastner, MD, PhD
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Dan Kastner obtained his A.B. summa cum laude in philosophy from Princeton University in 1973 and a Ph.D. and M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine by 1982. After completing Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at Baylor, Dan moved to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1985. He served as Scientific Director of the Division of Intramural Research of the National Human Genome Research Institute from 2011 to 2021, and continues to maintain a busy lab in the Medical Genetics Branch. Throughout his career at the NIH, Dan's research has focused on using genetic and genomic strategies to understand inherited disorders of inflammation, often stimulated by patients with relatively rare disorders seen at the NIH Clinical Center hospital. This work has provided detailed molecular explanations for these illnesses, has provided the conceptual basis for highly effective targeted therapies, and has informed our understanding of more common illnesses. Dan's group also proposed the now widely accepted overarching concept of autoinflammatory disease to denote disorders of the evolutionarily ancient innate branch of the human immune system.
Dr. Kastner has won a number of awards and honors, including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2010 and to the National Academy of Medicine in 2012, recognition as Federal Employee of the Year in 2018, the Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine in 2019, and the Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis in 2022.
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Dan Kastner obtained his A.B. summa cum laude in philosophy from Princeton University in 1973 and a Ph.D. and M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine by 1982. After completing Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at Baylor, Dan moved to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1985. He served as Scientific Director of the Division of Intramural Research of the National Human Genome Research Institute from 2011 to 2021, and continues to maintain a busy lab in the Medical Genetics Branch. Throughout his career at the NIH, Dan's research has focused on using genetic and genomic strategies to understand inherited disorders of inflammation, often stimulated by patients with relatively rare disorders seen at the NIH Clinical Center hospital. This work has provided detailed molecular explanations for these illnesses, has provided the conceptual basis for highly effective targeted therapies, and has informed our understanding of more common illnesses. Dan's group also proposed the now widely accepted overarching concept of autoinflammatory disease to denote disorders of the evolutionarily ancient innate branch of the human immune system.
Dr. Kastner has won a number of awards and honors, including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2010 and to the National Academy of Medicine in 2012, recognition as Federal Employee of the Year in 2018, the Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine in 2019, and the Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis in 2022.
Barbara Kazmierczak, MD, PhD
Yale University
Barbara Kazmierczak, MD, PhD is the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation MD-PhD Program Director, Professor of Medicine and Microbial Pathogenesis, and Vice Chair for Basic Research (Medicine) at Yale University. A biochemistry and molecular biology graduate of the University of Chicago, Kazmierczak completed her PhD in Genetics from the Rockefeller University and her MD from Weill Cornell University Medical College. She then finished an internal medicine residency and infectious diseases fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Drs. Joanne Engel and Keith Mostov, studying Pseudomonas aeruginosa interactions with epithelia with support from a HHMI Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for Physicians and a NIH K08 career development award. Kazmierczak joined the faculty at Yale University as a physician-scientist, continuing to study host-pathogen interactions with a focus on P. aeruginosa and its innate immune recognition by the host. Kazmierczak became Director of Yale’s MD-PhD Program in 2014, and a founding co-director of Yale’s BioMed Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program (now BioMed Amgen Scholars) in 2015. She has served as MD-PhD Section Chair of the AAMC’s Graduate Education and Training Group and as President of the National Association of MD-PhD Programs. Dr. Kazmierczak’s research has been funded for over 20 years by the NIH, as well as investigator awards from the Donaghue Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. She has served as a Section Editor for PLoS Pathogens and as a member of multiple study sections for NIH/CSR. In recognition of her accomplishments, Kazmierczak has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Interurban Clinical Club, the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and of the American Academy for Microbiology.
Yale University
Barbara Kazmierczak, MD, PhD is the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation MD-PhD Program Director, Professor of Medicine and Microbial Pathogenesis, and Vice Chair for Basic Research (Medicine) at Yale University. A biochemistry and molecular biology graduate of the University of Chicago, Kazmierczak completed her PhD in Genetics from the Rockefeller University and her MD from Weill Cornell University Medical College. She then finished an internal medicine residency and infectious diseases fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Drs. Joanne Engel and Keith Mostov, studying Pseudomonas aeruginosa interactions with epithelia with support from a HHMI Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for Physicians and a NIH K08 career development award. Kazmierczak joined the faculty at Yale University as a physician-scientist, continuing to study host-pathogen interactions with a focus on P. aeruginosa and its innate immune recognition by the host. Kazmierczak became Director of Yale’s MD-PhD Program in 2014, and a founding co-director of Yale’s BioMed Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program (now BioMed Amgen Scholars) in 2015. She has served as MD-PhD Section Chair of the AAMC’s Graduate Education and Training Group and as President of the National Association of MD-PhD Programs. Dr. Kazmierczak’s research has been funded for over 20 years by the NIH, as well as investigator awards from the Donaghue Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. She has served as a Section Editor for PLoS Pathogens and as a member of multiple study sections for NIH/CSR. In recognition of her accomplishments, Kazmierczak has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Interurban Clinical Club, the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and of the American Academy for Microbiology.
Kenny Kwok Hei Yu, MBBS, PhD, FRCS
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Kenny K H Yu, MBBS, PhD, FRCS is a neurosurgeon-scientist and Instructor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where his clinical and research interests focus on patients with malignant glioma.
He completed his medical training at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom followed by neurosurgical residency in Manchester, UK. He took time out during residency to pursue a PhD under Professor Brian Bigger at the University of Manchester where he devised novel non-myeloablative adoptive transfer methods to distinguish between microglial and bone marrow derived macrophages in order to define their respective contributions to the glioma macrophage population, and was subsequently awarded a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lectureship to pursue postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Peter Dirks at the hospital for Sick Children in Toronto in Canada. After completing residency he undertook a combined research and clinical subspecialty training fellowship in advanced neurosurgical oncology under the tutelage of Dr Viviane Tabar before being appointed to the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
His research aims to understand the functional specification of glioma associated macrophages and the relationship between distinct pathological transcriptional programs in tumor macrophages and disease progression with the eventual goal of translating these findings into targeted therapies for patients with this devastating form of cancer.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Kenny K H Yu, MBBS, PhD, FRCS is a neurosurgeon-scientist and Instructor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where his clinical and research interests focus on patients with malignant glioma.
He completed his medical training at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom followed by neurosurgical residency in Manchester, UK. He took time out during residency to pursue a PhD under Professor Brian Bigger at the University of Manchester where he devised novel non-myeloablative adoptive transfer methods to distinguish between microglial and bone marrow derived macrophages in order to define their respective contributions to the glioma macrophage population, and was subsequently awarded a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lectureship to pursue postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Peter Dirks at the hospital for Sick Children in Toronto in Canada. After completing residency he undertook a combined research and clinical subspecialty training fellowship in advanced neurosurgical oncology under the tutelage of Dr Viviane Tabar before being appointed to the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
His research aims to understand the functional specification of glioma associated macrophages and the relationship between distinct pathological transcriptional programs in tumor macrophages and disease progression with the eventual goal of translating these findings into targeted therapies for patients with this devastating form of cancer.
Mitchell A. Lazar, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Mitchell A. Lazar, MD, PhD, is the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He was an undergraduate at MIT, received his MD/PhD from Stanford, and trained in internal medicine and endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MGH before joining the Penn faculty, where he has served as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism and is Founding Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Dr. Lazar’s groundbreaking research has focused on genomic mechanisms by which nuclear receptors control circadian rhythms and metabolism, and how these impact metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver. He has received numerous awards including the Stanley Korsmeyer Award of the ASCI and the Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Award of the Endocrine Society. He is a member of the ASCI and AAP, and was AAP President in 2021. Dr. Lazar is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Science.
University of Pennsylvania
Mitchell A. Lazar, MD, PhD, is the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He was an undergraduate at MIT, received his MD/PhD from Stanford, and trained in internal medicine and endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MGH before joining the Penn faculty, where he has served as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism and is Founding Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Dr. Lazar’s groundbreaking research has focused on genomic mechanisms by which nuclear receptors control circadian rhythms and metabolism, and how these impact metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver. He has received numerous awards including the Stanley Korsmeyer Award of the ASCI and the Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Award of the Endocrine Society. He is a member of the ASCI and AAP, and was AAP President in 2021. Dr. Lazar is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Science.
Steven E. Mansoor, MD, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. Mansoor is recipient of the ASCI's 2023 Donald Seldin~Holly Smith Award for Pioneering Research. A clinical cardiologist, Dr. Mansoor employs structural biology techniques to study the structure, function, and signaling of ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. He was responsible for resolving the structures of several receptors within the P2X class of purinergic receptors: P2X3R and PRX7R. Dr. Mansoor’s work provided clarity into the activity of each, enabling efforts in his lab and elsewhere to identify potential small molecules that target P2X receptors for novel therapeutics.
Dr. Mansoor is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Assistant Professor of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry at the Oregon Health & Sciences University School of Medicine. His work has been recognized and funded by the Gilead Research Scholars Award, the Silver Family Foundation Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award, and the National Institutes of Health, including most recently the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. Among other honors, he was a recipient of the ASCI’s 2018 Young Physician-Scientist Award.
Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. Mansoor is recipient of the ASCI's 2023 Donald Seldin~Holly Smith Award for Pioneering Research. A clinical cardiologist, Dr. Mansoor employs structural biology techniques to study the structure, function, and signaling of ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. He was responsible for resolving the structures of several receptors within the P2X class of purinergic receptors: P2X3R and PRX7R. Dr. Mansoor’s work provided clarity into the activity of each, enabling efforts in his lab and elsewhere to identify potential small molecules that target P2X receptors for novel therapeutics.
Dr. Mansoor is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Assistant Professor of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry at the Oregon Health & Sciences University School of Medicine. His work has been recognized and funded by the Gilead Research Scholars Award, the Silver Family Foundation Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award, and the National Institutes of Health, including most recently the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. Among other honors, he was a recipient of the ASCI’s 2018 Young Physician-Scientist Award.
Tanner C. Martinez
University of Chicago
Tanner Martinez is a fifth year MD-PhD student in lab of Dr. Megan McNerney at the University of Chicago. His thesis research concerns how hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) make fundamental decisions regarding division and differentiation He is investigating the role of the transcription factor CUX1 in regulating HSC fate decisions. Following completion of his training at UChicago, he is interested in pursuing a career as a physician-scientist with further interests in pediatric malignancies.
University of Chicago
Tanner Martinez is a fifth year MD-PhD student in lab of Dr. Megan McNerney at the University of Chicago. His thesis research concerns how hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) make fundamental decisions regarding division and differentiation He is investigating the role of the transcription factor CUX1 in regulating HSC fate decisions. Following completion of his training at UChicago, he is interested in pursuing a career as a physician-scientist with further interests in pediatric malignancies.
Ruslan Medzhitov, PhD
Yale University
Ruslan Medzhitov is a Sterling Professor at Yale University School of Medicine and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
His studies identified innate immune sensing pathways and established the principle of innate control of adaptive immunity. His current research is focused on inflammation biology, allergy, and evolutionary medicine.
His awards include The Emil von Behring Award, Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award, The Shaw Prize, Vilcek Prize, Lurie Prize, Else Kröner Fresenius Stiftung Prize, and Dickson Prize.
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology, and a member of EMBO.
Yale University
Ruslan Medzhitov is a Sterling Professor at Yale University School of Medicine and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
His studies identified innate immune sensing pathways and established the principle of innate control of adaptive immunity. His current research is focused on inflammation biology, allergy, and evolutionary medicine.
His awards include The Emil von Behring Award, Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award, The Shaw Prize, Vilcek Prize, Lurie Prize, Else Kröner Fresenius Stiftung Prize, and Dickson Prize.
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology, and a member of EMBO.
Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD
University of Arizona Tucson
In July 2018, Dr. Merchant is chief of the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology within the Department of Medicine at the University of Arizona and also holds the title of Regents Professor. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Physiological Sciences and is Associate Director for Basic Research at the UA Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Merchant is a molecular gastroenterologist whose primary research interests include transcriptional control mechanisms regulating cell growth and differentiation and microbial-host interactions in the gastrointestinal tract. She has published over 160 research publications and is the editor or co-editor of four books and multiple book chapters. She is currently an associate editor for FASEB J, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology/Hepatology and Annual Review of Physiology. She has remained continuously funded by NIH for 30 years. She has received several mentoring awards and serves as an external advisor for Digestive Disease Centers for Vanderbilt and Columbia Universities. She was chair of the Program Steering Committee for the SDSU-UC San Diego NCI-funded U54 Cooperative Cancer Grant for 8 years and an active committee member for 20 years. She is a prior member of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Advisory Council and the Council of Councils. She is the prior chair of the Gastrointestinal Cell and Molecular Biology NIH study section (2005) and is past chair of the NIDDK Board of Scientific Councilors (BSC, 2016-2021). She was also a member of the 2020 NIDDK Blue Ribbon Panel (2020-2021). She is a member of several professional associations, including the Association of American Physicians (AAP) and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). She was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2008 and in 2017 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She currently serves as an elected member of AAP and National Academy of Medicine Councils. She was recently named to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Scientific Advisory Council. And was recently named to the Scientific Advisory Board for Yale School of Medicine.
University of Arizona Tucson
In July 2018, Dr. Merchant is chief of the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology within the Department of Medicine at the University of Arizona and also holds the title of Regents Professor. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Physiological Sciences and is Associate Director for Basic Research at the UA Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Merchant is a molecular gastroenterologist whose primary research interests include transcriptional control mechanisms regulating cell growth and differentiation and microbial-host interactions in the gastrointestinal tract. She has published over 160 research publications and is the editor or co-editor of four books and multiple book chapters. She is currently an associate editor for FASEB J, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology/Hepatology and Annual Review of Physiology. She has remained continuously funded by NIH for 30 years. She has received several mentoring awards and serves as an external advisor for Digestive Disease Centers for Vanderbilt and Columbia Universities. She was chair of the Program Steering Committee for the SDSU-UC San Diego NCI-funded U54 Cooperative Cancer Grant for 8 years and an active committee member for 20 years. She is a prior member of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Advisory Council and the Council of Councils. She is the prior chair of the Gastrointestinal Cell and Molecular Biology NIH study section (2005) and is past chair of the NIDDK Board of Scientific Councilors (BSC, 2016-2021). She was also a member of the 2020 NIDDK Blue Ribbon Panel (2020-2021). She is a member of several professional associations, including the Association of American Physicians (AAP) and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). She was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2008 and in 2017 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She currently serves as an elected member of AAP and National Academy of Medicine Councils. She was recently named to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Scientific Advisory Council. And was recently named to the Scientific Advisory Board for Yale School of Medicine.
Duane A. Mitchell, MD, PhD
University of Florida
Dr. Mitchell is the inaugural recipient of the ASCI / Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award for his work on the development of innovative immunotherapy treatments for adults and children with malignant brain tumors.
In studying glioblastoma, an aggressive and therapy-resistant aggressive type of cancer, his laboratory found that preconditioning the vaccine site with a potent recall antigen such as tetanus/diphtheria toxoid significantly improved lymph node homing and efficacy of tumor antigen–specific dendritic cells in both patients and a mouse model. His team discovered that certain hematopoietic stem cells could overcome complete resistance to PD-1 checkpoint blockade treatment through mechanisms that alter the tumor microenvironment in glioblastoma. In evaluation of personalized adoptive cellular therapy for refractory pediatric medulloblastoma, Dr. Mitchell demonstrated the safety and profound clonal T cell expansion of tumor-reactive lymphocytes; tumor-reactive T cells persisted in circulation for months after treatment in preclinical models and in children with relapsed medulloblastoma. Dr. Mitchell’s many discoveries have formed the basis of FDA-approved investigational new drug applications and first-in-human phase I and phase II clinical trials.
Dr. Mitchell received his BA from Rutgers College and his MD and PhD from Duke University, where he also completed his residency and postdoctoral work. Along with his role as director of the University of Florida Clinical and Translational Science Institute, he is Assistant Vice President for Research; Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences in the College of Medicine codirector of the Preston A. Wells, Jr., Center for Brain Tumor Therapy at UF Health; and Phyllis Kottler Friedman Professor in the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Mitchell was elected to the ASCI in 2020.
University of Florida
Dr. Mitchell is the inaugural recipient of the ASCI / Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award for his work on the development of innovative immunotherapy treatments for adults and children with malignant brain tumors.
In studying glioblastoma, an aggressive and therapy-resistant aggressive type of cancer, his laboratory found that preconditioning the vaccine site with a potent recall antigen such as tetanus/diphtheria toxoid significantly improved lymph node homing and efficacy of tumor antigen–specific dendritic cells in both patients and a mouse model. His team discovered that certain hematopoietic stem cells could overcome complete resistance to PD-1 checkpoint blockade treatment through mechanisms that alter the tumor microenvironment in glioblastoma. In evaluation of personalized adoptive cellular therapy for refractory pediatric medulloblastoma, Dr. Mitchell demonstrated the safety and profound clonal T cell expansion of tumor-reactive lymphocytes; tumor-reactive T cells persisted in circulation for months after treatment in preclinical models and in children with relapsed medulloblastoma. Dr. Mitchell’s many discoveries have formed the basis of FDA-approved investigational new drug applications and first-in-human phase I and phase II clinical trials.
Dr. Mitchell received his BA from Rutgers College and his MD and PhD from Duke University, where he also completed his residency and postdoctoral work. Along with his role as director of the University of Florida Clinical and Translational Science Institute, he is Assistant Vice President for Research; Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences in the College of Medicine codirector of the Preston A. Wells, Jr., Center for Brain Tumor Therapy at UF Health; and Phyllis Kottler Friedman Professor in the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Mitchell was elected to the ASCI in 2020.
Alison Morris, MD, MS
University of Pittsburgh
Alison Morris, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine, Immunology, and Clinical and Translational Research. She holds the positions of Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, the UPMC Chair of Translational Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the Director of the Center for Medicine and the Microbiome.
Dr. Morris’ research program has focused on understanding the epidemiology and mechanisms of HIV-associated lung diseases in the current era of antiretroviral therapy and in the role of the microbiome in lung disease.
University of Pittsburgh
Alison Morris, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine, Immunology, and Clinical and Translational Research. She holds the positions of Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, the UPMC Chair of Translational Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the Director of the Center for Medicine and the Microbiome.
Dr. Morris’ research program has focused on understanding the epidemiology and mechanisms of HIV-associated lung diseases in the current era of antiretroviral therapy and in the role of the microbiome in lung disease.
Betsy Nabel, MD
ModeX Therapeutics
Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Nabel is a cardiologist and the current Chair of the Advisory Board and previous Executive Vice President of Strategy at ModeX Therapeutics, an OPKO Health company in Miami, FL. Prior to this role, she served as President of Brigham Health and its Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Director of the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and Chief of Cardiology, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan.
At the NHLBI, one of her signature advocacy efforts was the Red Dress Heart Truth campaign, which raises heart awareness in women through unprecedented industry partnerships. An accomplished physician-scientist, Nabel’s work on the molecular genetics of cardiovascular diseases produced 17 patents, >250 scientific publications, and two start-up companies. Building on her lifelong commitment to improving health through science, from 2015-18, Nabel was the first Chief Health and Medical Advisor to the National Football League, where she provided strategic input to the NFL’s medical, health and scientific efforts. Her honors include the Distinguished Bostonian Award, the Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the American Heart Association, and eleven honorary doctorates, among others. Dr. Nabel is an elected member of the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. She serves on the boards of Medtronic, Moderna, Lyell, Accolade, the Lasker Foundation and South Florida PBS.
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Dr. Nabel attended Weill Cornell Medical College and completed her internal medicine and cardiology training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is married to Dr. Gary Nabel, a research physician-scientist, who co-founded ModeX Therapeutics. They have three children, all of whom are pursuing careers in medicine.
ModeX Therapeutics
Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Nabel is a cardiologist and the current Chair of the Advisory Board and previous Executive Vice President of Strategy at ModeX Therapeutics, an OPKO Health company in Miami, FL. Prior to this role, she served as President of Brigham Health and its Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Director of the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and Chief of Cardiology, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan.
At the NHLBI, one of her signature advocacy efforts was the Red Dress Heart Truth campaign, which raises heart awareness in women through unprecedented industry partnerships. An accomplished physician-scientist, Nabel’s work on the molecular genetics of cardiovascular diseases produced 17 patents, >250 scientific publications, and two start-up companies. Building on her lifelong commitment to improving health through science, from 2015-18, Nabel was the first Chief Health and Medical Advisor to the National Football League, where she provided strategic input to the NFL’s medical, health and scientific efforts. Her honors include the Distinguished Bostonian Award, the Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the American Heart Association, and eleven honorary doctorates, among others. Dr. Nabel is an elected member of the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. She serves on the boards of Medtronic, Moderna, Lyell, Accolade, the Lasker Foundation and South Florida PBS.
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Dr. Nabel attended Weill Cornell Medical College and completed her internal medicine and cardiology training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is married to Dr. Gary Nabel, a research physician-scientist, who co-founded ModeX Therapeutics. They have three children, all of whom are pursuing careers in medicine.
Raffael Nachbagauer, MD, PhD
Moderna
Dr. Raffael Nachbagauer is an Executive Director and Portfolio Leader at Moderna where he oversees the seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine development portfolio. At Moderna, Dr. Nachbagauer led the first-generation mRNA-based seasonal influenza program, driving advancement from the preclinical stage to a first-in-human study within a year. Under his leadership, Moderna has since initiated multiple phase 1 to 3 clinical studies spanning additional next-generation influenza and influenza/COVID combination vaccines.
Prior to joining Moderna, he was an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where his research focused on the immune responses to virus infections and vaccinations, as well as the development of novel influenza vaccines. He was an investigator on several NIH/NIAID grants and continues to serve on editorial boards and as a peer-reviewer of numerous academic journals. Dr. Nachbagauer has published over 70 scientific articles, is an inventor on seven patents related to the development of vaccine platforms, and has received prestigious awards including the Geoffrey Schild Award in 2020 by the International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases.
Moderna
Dr. Raffael Nachbagauer is an Executive Director and Portfolio Leader at Moderna where he oversees the seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine development portfolio. At Moderna, Dr. Nachbagauer led the first-generation mRNA-based seasonal influenza program, driving advancement from the preclinical stage to a first-in-human study within a year. Under his leadership, Moderna has since initiated multiple phase 1 to 3 clinical studies spanning additional next-generation influenza and influenza/COVID combination vaccines.
Prior to joining Moderna, he was an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where his research focused on the immune responses to virus infections and vaccinations, as well as the development of novel influenza vaccines. He was an investigator on several NIH/NIAID grants and continues to serve on editorial boards and as a peer-reviewer of numerous academic journals. Dr. Nachbagauer has published over 70 scientific articles, is an inventor on seven patents related to the development of vaccine platforms, and has received prestigious awards including the Geoffrey Schild Award in 2020 by the International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases.
Evan Noch, MD, PhD
Weill Cornell Medical College
Dr. Evan Noch is Assistant Professor of Neurology within the Division of Neuro-oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Evan earned his MD and PhD degrees from Temple University before completing his residency in Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and fellowship in Neuro-oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In the lab, Evan studies glioblastoma metabolism, with a focus on synergistic drug and dietary therapies targeting glucose utilization and redox pathways. Within APSA, Evan served on the PR Committee and then as its Committee Chair before serving as President-Elect and then President. More recently, Evan served as APSA's Resident Liaison and then as past co-chair of the Resident, Fellow, and Junior Faculty Committee. Evan also serves on APSA’s Board of Directors. Evan is passionate about APSA and is working on ways to better understand the needs of post-graduate physician-scientist trainees to improve their career development opportunities.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Dr. Evan Noch is Assistant Professor of Neurology within the Division of Neuro-oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Evan earned his MD and PhD degrees from Temple University before completing his residency in Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and fellowship in Neuro-oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In the lab, Evan studies glioblastoma metabolism, with a focus on synergistic drug and dietary therapies targeting glucose utilization and redox pathways. Within APSA, Evan served on the PR Committee and then as its Committee Chair before serving as President-Elect and then President. More recently, Evan served as APSA's Resident Liaison and then as past co-chair of the Resident, Fellow, and Junior Faculty Committee. Evan also serves on APSA’s Board of Directors. Evan is passionate about APSA and is working on ways to better understand the needs of post-graduate physician-scientist trainees to improve their career development opportunities.
Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA
Yale School of Medicine
Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, is the Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics and Chair for Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at Yale School of Medicine. Her research is focused on responsible sharing of clinical data for machine learning/AI, including new privacy enhancing technologies and associated policies. Previously, she was founding chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine, distinguished professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and founding faculty of the UCSD Halicioğlu Data Science Institute. She received her medical degree from the University of São Paulo, Brazil; her MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil; and her PhD in medical information sciences and computer science from Stanford University. She has led informatics centers that were funded by various NIH initiatives and by agencies such as AHRQ, PCORI, and NSF. Prior to joining UCSD, she was distinguished chair in biomedical informatics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and faculty at Harvard Medical School and at MIT’s Health Sciences and Technology Division. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics.
Yale School of Medicine
Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, is the Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics and Chair for Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at Yale School of Medicine. Her research is focused on responsible sharing of clinical data for machine learning/AI, including new privacy enhancing technologies and associated policies. Previously, she was founding chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine, distinguished professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and founding faculty of the UCSD Halicioğlu Data Science Institute. She received her medical degree from the University of São Paulo, Brazil; her MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil; and her PhD in medical information sciences and computer science from Stanford University. She has led informatics centers that were funded by various NIH initiatives and by agencies such as AHRQ, PCORI, and NSF. Prior to joining UCSD, she was distinguished chair in biomedical informatics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and faculty at Harvard Medical School and at MIT’s Health Sciences and Technology Division. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics.
John O’Shea, MD
National Institutes of Health
ohn O’Shea, M.D. started his own group in the National Cancer Institute in 1989, and then moved to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in 1994 as Chief of the Lymphocyte Cell Biology Section of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch. He was appointed Chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch in 2002, and became Scientific Director and Director of the NIAMS Intramural Research Program in 2005. Dr. O’Shea also served as Acting Director of the NIH Center for Regenerative Medicine from 2009-2011. Dr. O’Shea is also an adjunct Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania
National Institutes of Health
ohn O’Shea, M.D. started his own group in the National Cancer Institute in 1989, and then moved to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in 1994 as Chief of the Lymphocyte Cell Biology Section of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch. He was appointed Chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch in 2002, and became Scientific Director and Director of the NIAMS Intramural Research Program in 2005. Dr. O’Shea also served as Acting Director of the NIH Center for Regenerative Medicine from 2009-2011. Dr. O’Shea is also an adjunct Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania
Meighan Parker, JD, MTS
University of Chicago Law School
Meighan Parker is a Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Meighan is a health law scholar focused on the legal implications of novel telehealth and digital health technologies designed to democratize healthcare. More specifically, she studies the impact of these new technologies on the practice of medicine and access to care, especially in marginalized and vulnerable communities.
Meighan's article, tentatively titled, "Come As You Are?: Democratizing Healthcare through Black Church-Telehealth Initiatives" (job talk paper) is forthcoming in the Columbia Science and Technology Review.
Prior to joining the Law School, Meighan was a managing associate at Sidley Austin LLP and an associate at Ropes & Gray LLP. Her practice focused on a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues encountered by pharmaceutical and medical device companies regulated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related laws.
Meighan received her BS in biology from Spelman College and JD from the University of Alabama School of Law, where she was the captain of the 2018 Health Law Transactional Moot Court team and an extern in the Special Litigation Section of the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Meighan also earned a Master’s of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, where she studied religion, ethics and politics and currently serves as a member of the Alumni/Alumnae Council.
University of Chicago Law School
Meighan Parker is a Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Meighan is a health law scholar focused on the legal implications of novel telehealth and digital health technologies designed to democratize healthcare. More specifically, she studies the impact of these new technologies on the practice of medicine and access to care, especially in marginalized and vulnerable communities.
Meighan's article, tentatively titled, "Come As You Are?: Democratizing Healthcare through Black Church-Telehealth Initiatives" (job talk paper) is forthcoming in the Columbia Science and Technology Review.
Prior to joining the Law School, Meighan was a managing associate at Sidley Austin LLP and an associate at Ropes & Gray LLP. Her practice focused on a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues encountered by pharmaceutical and medical device companies regulated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related laws.
Meighan received her BS in biology from Spelman College and JD from the University of Alabama School of Law, where she was the captain of the 2018 Health Law Transactional Moot Court team and an extern in the Special Litigation Section of the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Meighan also earned a Master’s of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, where she studied religion, ethics and politics and currently serves as a member of the Alumni/Alumnae Council.
Monica E. Peek, MD, MPH, MS, FACP
University of Chicago
Dr. Monica Peek is the Ellen H. Block Professor of Health Justice at the University of Chicago, where she provides clinical care, teaches and does health services research. She is an internist who strives to provide comprehensive humanistic care for her patients.
Dr. Peek’s research pursues health equity and social justice, with a focus on promoting equitable doctor/patient relationships among racial minorities, integrating the medical and social needs of patients, and addressing healthcare discrimination and structural racism that impact health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, COVID-19). Dr. Peek has authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers, and has served as the principal investigator for multiple grants from institutions such as NIDDK, NHLBI, PCORI, AHRQ, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the Merck Foundation and others.
Dr. Peek is the Associate Director of the Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research, the Executive Medical Director of Community Health Innovation and the Director of Research (and Associate Director) at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She is a Senior Associate Editor for the journal Health Services Research and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Peek’s research has been featured in national media outlets such as The Chicago Tribune, NPR, PRI/The World, CNN, Democracy Now, CBS, ABC, TIME Magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, STAT News, and The Huffington Post.
University of Chicago
Dr. Monica Peek is the Ellen H. Block Professor of Health Justice at the University of Chicago, where she provides clinical care, teaches and does health services research. She is an internist who strives to provide comprehensive humanistic care for her patients.
Dr. Peek’s research pursues health equity and social justice, with a focus on promoting equitable doctor/patient relationships among racial minorities, integrating the medical and social needs of patients, and addressing healthcare discrimination and structural racism that impact health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, COVID-19). Dr. Peek has authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers, and has served as the principal investigator for multiple grants from institutions such as NIDDK, NHLBI, PCORI, AHRQ, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the Merck Foundation and others.
Dr. Peek is the Associate Director of the Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research, the Executive Medical Director of Community Health Innovation and the Director of Research (and Associate Director) at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She is a Senior Associate Editor for the journal Health Services Research and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Peek’s research has been featured in national media outlets such as The Chicago Tribune, NPR, PRI/The World, CNN, Democracy Now, CBS, ABC, TIME Magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, STAT News, and The Huffington Post.
Read Pukkila-Worley, MD
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Read Pukkila-Worley, MD is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at UMass Chan Medical School. His laboratory studies immune activation and regulation in intestinal epithelial cells. Building on the principle that evolution shaped host-pathogen interactions, Dr. Pukkila-Worley's lab defines conserved mechanisms of pathogen sensing and innate immunity. His laboratory primarily investigates the pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a critically important human pathogen, using a variety of approaches, including investigations with the genetic model host Caenorhabditis elegans. He serves as attending physician on the infectious disease consult service at UMass Memorial Medical Center and educates the next generation of scientists and physician-scientists at UMass Chan, both in his laboratory as a Ph.D. thesis mentor and as a director of a major medical student course. He received his medical degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine, and clinical fellowship in infectious diseases, at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was then a Cancer Research Institute-Irvington postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of National Academy of Science member Fred Ausubel, PhD.
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Read Pukkila-Worley, MD is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at UMass Chan Medical School. His laboratory studies immune activation and regulation in intestinal epithelial cells. Building on the principle that evolution shaped host-pathogen interactions, Dr. Pukkila-Worley's lab defines conserved mechanisms of pathogen sensing and innate immunity. His laboratory primarily investigates the pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a critically important human pathogen, using a variety of approaches, including investigations with the genetic model host Caenorhabditis elegans. He serves as attending physician on the infectious disease consult service at UMass Memorial Medical Center and educates the next generation of scientists and physician-scientists at UMass Chan, both in his laboratory as a Ph.D. thesis mentor and as a director of a major medical student course. He received his medical degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine, and clinical fellowship in infectious diseases, at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was then a Cancer Research Institute-Irvington postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of National Academy of Science member Fred Ausubel, PhD.
Rita Redberg, MD, MS
University of California, San Francisco
Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc, is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at UCSF. After growing up in Brooklyn, she graduated from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. She holds a Master of Science in Health Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics. Dr. Redberg was the Chief Editor of JAMA Internal Medicine from 2009 to 2023 and spearheaded the journal’s new focus on “less is more” medicine. Her research focuses on health policy and technology assessment and how to promote high-value care. Dr. Redberg has previously served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on medical payment policy, and on the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee as Chairperson. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
University of California, San Francisco
Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc, is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at UCSF. After growing up in Brooklyn, she graduated from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. She holds a Master of Science in Health Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics. Dr. Redberg was the Chief Editor of JAMA Internal Medicine from 2009 to 2023 and spearheaded the journal’s new focus on “less is more” medicine. Her research focuses on health policy and technology assessment and how to promote high-value care. Dr. Redberg has previously served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on medical payment policy, and on the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee as Chairperson. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Kayla Schwartz
University of Miami
Kayla Schwartz is an MD-PhD trainee as part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Medical Scientist Training Program with a strong academic foundation, holding a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors from The George Washington University. Kayla has showcased remarkable research acumen; She began her career in science studying honey bees, trained as a postbac in the NCI Radiation oncology branch, and she is currently delving into areas such as cancer epigenetics, molecular bioenergetics, and clinical research focused on healthcare for Miami's houseless population. Through her research, Kayla seeks to not only advance biomedicine, but also advocate for healthcare access to vulnerable populations. Her leadership roles in various organizations, including the American Physician Scientists Association and Medical Student Pride Alliance, exemplify her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity in healthcare. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to contribute to both scientific knowledge and societal well-being, Kayla looks forward to her future career as a physician scientist.
University of Miami
Kayla Schwartz is an MD-PhD trainee as part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Medical Scientist Training Program with a strong academic foundation, holding a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors from The George Washington University. Kayla has showcased remarkable research acumen; She began her career in science studying honey bees, trained as a postbac in the NCI Radiation oncology branch, and she is currently delving into areas such as cancer epigenetics, molecular bioenergetics, and clinical research focused on healthcare for Miami's houseless population. Through her research, Kayla seeks to not only advance biomedicine, but also advocate for healthcare access to vulnerable populations. Her leadership roles in various organizations, including the American Physician Scientists Association and Medical Student Pride Alliance, exemplify her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity in healthcare. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to contribute to both scientific knowledge and societal well-being, Kayla looks forward to her future career as a physician scientist.
Arlene H. Sharpe, MD, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Sharpe is the recipient of the eleventh annual Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine. The award recognizes her breakthrough discoveries in immune regulation, which have established foundational principles in immunology and led to new cancer therapies that act by boosting the immune response to cancer.
She is the Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sharpe’s research in immunology has led to significant advances in medical treatments. Her work helped identify key pathways that restrain the activity of T lymphocytes (immune cells) to fight cancer. Her work defined the PD-1 pathway and its immunoinhibitory functions as well as the inhibitory functions of CTLA-4 to restrain the activity of the immune system. Her research thus laid the foundation for the development of ‘immune checkpoint inhibitors’, drugs that target PD-1 and related pathways. These therapies, including pembrolizumab and nivolumab, have been approved by the FDA for treating numerous types of cancer. They work by preventing inhibition of T cell function, thereby unleashing the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells more effectively. This approach has become a cornerstone in cancer treatment strategies.
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Sharpe is the recipient of the eleventh annual Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine. The award recognizes her breakthrough discoveries in immune regulation, which have established foundational principles in immunology and led to new cancer therapies that act by boosting the immune response to cancer.
She is the Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sharpe’s research in immunology has led to significant advances in medical treatments. Her work helped identify key pathways that restrain the activity of T lymphocytes (immune cells) to fight cancer. Her work defined the PD-1 pathway and its immunoinhibitory functions as well as the inhibitory functions of CTLA-4 to restrain the activity of the immune system. Her research thus laid the foundation for the development of ‘immune checkpoint inhibitors’, drugs that target PD-1 and related pathways. These therapies, including pembrolizumab and nivolumab, have been approved by the FDA for treating numerous types of cancer. They work by preventing inhibition of T cell function, thereby unleashing the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells more effectively. This approach has become a cornerstone in cancer treatment strategies.
Michael Sheridan, MSW, PhD
National Institutes of Health
Michael Sheridan, MSW, PhD, has thirty years of experience teaching courses and leading workshops on diversity and social justice. As a social work educator, she helped create both undergraduate and graduate courses and was the Social Justice Sequence Chair for this curriculum at three universities: Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Northern Iowa, and the Catholic University of America. She has also provided training for both private and governmental organizations, including children and family service agencies, health care settings, educational programs and conferences, correctional officers and incarcerated persons,
and programs for people living in conflict zones. Most recently, she was Special Advisor for Wellness and Diversity Programs at the National Institutes of Health. Since her move to North Carolina, she continues to co-lead a DEI Certificate Program she developed with Dr. Anna Hanh at NIH. Dr. Sheridan has published articles and chapters on spiritual activism and the intersection of spirituality and diversity, as well as an edited book (Connecting Spirituality and Social Justice: Conceptualizations and Applications for Macro Social Work Practice). She is also an active collaborator with the Universalist Unitarian Justice Ministry of North Carolina.
National Institutes of Health
Michael Sheridan, MSW, PhD, has thirty years of experience teaching courses and leading workshops on diversity and social justice. As a social work educator, she helped create both undergraduate and graduate courses and was the Social Justice Sequence Chair for this curriculum at three universities: Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Northern Iowa, and the Catholic University of America. She has also provided training for both private and governmental organizations, including children and family service agencies, health care settings, educational programs and conferences, correctional officers and incarcerated persons,
and programs for people living in conflict zones. Most recently, she was Special Advisor for Wellness and Diversity Programs at the National Institutes of Health. Since her move to North Carolina, she continues to co-lead a DEI Certificate Program she developed with Dr. Anna Hanh at NIH. Dr. Sheridan has published articles and chapters on spiritual activism and the intersection of spirituality and diversity, as well as an edited book (Connecting Spirituality and Social Justice: Conceptualizations and Applications for Macro Social Work Practice). She is also an active collaborator with the Universalist Unitarian Justice Ministry of North Carolina.
Michael P. Snyder, PhD
Stanford University
As a pioneer of Precision Medicine, Dr Michael Snyder has invented many technologies enabling the 21st century of healthcare including systems biology, RNA sequencing, and protein chip. Dr Snyder has initiated the Big Data approach to healthcare through his work using omics to detect early stage disease, including wearables to detect infectious diseases like COVID-19, and at-home microsampling to measure hundreds of molecules from a single drop of blood. He is the first researcher to gather petabytes of data on individuals, which is 1 Million - 1 trillion times more data than the average clinician collects. He as published over 800 papers and is one of the most cited scientists. In terms of commercial success, Mike has co-founded 17 companies (including 2 unicorns) with combined enterprise value of over $6 billion.
Stanford University
As a pioneer of Precision Medicine, Dr Michael Snyder has invented many technologies enabling the 21st century of healthcare including systems biology, RNA sequencing, and protein chip. Dr Snyder has initiated the Big Data approach to healthcare through his work using omics to detect early stage disease, including wearables to detect infectious diseases like COVID-19, and at-home microsampling to measure hundreds of molecules from a single drop of blood. He is the first researcher to gather petabytes of data on individuals, which is 1 Million - 1 trillion times more data than the average clinician collects. He as published over 800 papers and is one of the most cited scientists. In terms of commercial success, Mike has co-founded 17 companies (including 2 unicorns) with combined enterprise value of over $6 billion.
Cynthia Tang, PhD
MD-PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina
Cynthia Tang is the President-Elect of the American Physician Scientists Association and an MD-PhD Candidate and NIH F30 Fellow at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She graduated from The College of Idaho and worked at Washington University in St. Louis as a research scholar and clinical research coordinator where she discovered her passion for patient care. Cynthia earned her PhD in Bioinformatics at the University of Missouri studying the emergence, spread, and clinical impacts of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
MD-PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina
Cynthia Tang is the President-Elect of the American Physician Scientists Association and an MD-PhD Candidate and NIH F30 Fellow at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She graduated from The College of Idaho and worked at Washington University in St. Louis as a research scholar and clinical research coordinator where she discovered her passion for patient care. Cynthia earned her PhD in Bioinformatics at the University of Missouri studying the emergence, spread, and clinical impacts of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
Stephan Targan, MD
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Dr. Targan completed his undergraduate and medical school training at Johns Hopkins University, followed by internal medicine residency and fellowships in Infectious Diseases (ID), Gastroenterology (GI), and Immunology within the UCLA School of Medicine system.
Throughout his entire career, Dr. Targan has been dedicated to caring for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and conducting basic, translational, and clinical research to enhance our understanding of IBD for improved patient care.
In the early stages of his career, he was appointed Chairman of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America National Scientific Advisory Committee and served as Chairman of the NIDDK GMA-2 Study Section.
Currently, Dr. Targan holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Cedars Sinai and serves as the Executive Director of the F. Widjaja IBD Institute.
He has played a crucial role in the founding and governance of three companies—Prometheus Laboratory Inc., Santarus Inc., and Prometheus Biosciences. These companies were established to pioneer the discovery, development, and coordination of innovative diagnostics and therapeutics. The primary objective is to unravel the complexities of clinical and underlying mechanisms associated with various forms of IBD, ultimately defining optimal methods of care for each.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Dr. Targan completed his undergraduate and medical school training at Johns Hopkins University, followed by internal medicine residency and fellowships in Infectious Diseases (ID), Gastroenterology (GI), and Immunology within the UCLA School of Medicine system.
Throughout his entire career, Dr. Targan has been dedicated to caring for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and conducting basic, translational, and clinical research to enhance our understanding of IBD for improved patient care.
In the early stages of his career, he was appointed Chairman of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America National Scientific Advisory Committee and served as Chairman of the NIDDK GMA-2 Study Section.
Currently, Dr. Targan holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Cedars Sinai and serves as the Executive Director of the F. Widjaja IBD Institute.
He has played a crucial role in the founding and governance of three companies—Prometheus Laboratory Inc., Santarus Inc., and Prometheus Biosciences. These companies were established to pioneer the discovery, development, and coordination of innovative diagnostics and therapeutics. The primary objective is to unravel the complexities of clinical and underlying mechanisms associated with various forms of IBD, ultimately defining optimal methods of care for each.