The Immunology Graduate Program has faculty members whose interests span the cellular, molecular and clinical aspects of immunology. The faculty participates in the Program in one or more of the following: (i) provides a laboratory for research work in the graduate thesis and/or laboratory rotation, (ii) teaching in didactic coursework, (iii) provide guidance, assistance and/or advice in student seminars and/or advisory committees.
*Program Director; **Associate Director
Adam J. Adler*, Professor of Immunology, B.S., McGill University, Ph.D., Columbia University. Mechanisms of T cell tolerization to peripheral self-antigens, as well as the relationship between tolerance and tumor immunity.
Jenna Bartley, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., University of Connecticut. Uncovering common pathways among the aging process and developing potential interventions to prevent age-related declines in immune responses and help older adults maintain their independence into late life.
Stefan Brocke, Associate Professor of Cell Biology, M.D., Freie Universistaet Berlin School of Medicine. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain injury in inflammatory and inflammation-associated disorders of the central nervous system.
Margaret Callahan, Associate Professor, Chief of Hematology and Oncology, Neag Cancer Center, M.D., Ph.D., UConn Health. Use of immunotherapies to treat melanoma and other cancers. Understanding how immunotherapies work in patients with the goal of characterizing facets of the human immune system that help or hinder the anti-tumor activity of current and novel agents.
Robert B. Clark, Professor of Immunology, M.D., Stanford, 1975. Autoimmunity; immune regulation; regulatory T cells.
Zhichao Fan, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Fudan University. The development of a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of integrin activation and leukocyte recruitment and how they contribute to human disease, especially inflammation in cardiovascular diseases.
Kelly L. Hawley, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts. Exploring the antigenic nature and variability of T. pallidum outer membrane proteins to select syphilis vaccine candidates.
Laura Haynes, Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., University of Rochester School of Medicine. How aging influences immune responses, especially to infectious diseases such as influenza and bacterial pneumonia. Mechanisms involved in specific age-related changes in the immune system and how these changes influence the generation of protective immunity following infection or vaccination.
Sasan Jalili, 
Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Harvard University. Interrogating the host immunity, microbiome and their interface using different engineering tools in the context of infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer.
Evan Jellison, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts.
Sivapriya Kailasan Vanaja**, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D. Michigan State University. Mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens modulate host immune responses.
Adam Kim, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University. The role of C-type lectin receptors in liver inflammation.
Joel S. Pachter, Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., NYU. Use of laser capture microdissection for gene profiling of the neurovascular unit in health and disease.
Karolina Palucka, Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Karolinska Institute. Human immunology with a focus on experimental immunotherapy.
Silke Paust, Associate Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Harvard University. Development and testing of novel immunotherapies that elicit clinically relevant Natural Killer cell-mediated anti-pathogen or anti-tumor immunity.
Justin D. Radolf, Professor of Medicine and Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, M.D., University of California-San Francisco. Molecular pathogenesis and immunobiology of spirochetal infections.
Vijay Rathinam, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Michigan State University. Understand the immunologic basis of infectious and inflammatory diseases.
Jianbin Ruan, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., University of Science and Technology of China. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of innate immune signaling, especially signal transduction pathways of pyroptosis and inflammation; host-pathogen interactions by elucidating the mechanisms how pore-forming proteins/toxins recognize the specific receptors.
Juan C. Salazar, Professor of Pediatrics, M.D., Universidad Javeriana. Analysis of the immunologic interactions between syphilis and HIV and the pathogenesis of spirochetal diseases including Lyme disease.
Pramod K. Srivastava, Professor of Medicine, Ph.D., Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India. Heat shock proteins as peptide chaperones, roles in antigen presentation and applications in immunotherapy of cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders.
Derya Unutmaz, Professor of Immunology, M.D., Mamara University Medical School. Decoding the functional and differentiation programs of different human T lymphocyte subsets. Developing various approaches towards development of T cells for cancer immunotherapy, HIV infection and regeneration during aging. Mapping the immune profiles in cancer, HIV and other inflammatory diseases to translate this knowledge as potential diagnostics.
Anthony T. Vella, Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Cornell University. T-cell immunity; costimulation; adjuvants and cytokines.
Kepeng Wang, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Understanding the role of IL-17 in the development, immune regulation, and treatment of colorectal cancer.
Penghua Wang, Assistant Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., The National University of Singapore. Understanding pathogenic mechanisms of viral infection at the cellular and animal levels, and studying the molecular function of host genes that influence viral pathogenesis and the disease outcomes.
Yanlin Wang, M.D., Weifang Medical University, Ph.D., The University of Texas Medical Branch. Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of kidney disease with a focus on the roles of inflammatory cells and fibroblasts in the pathogenesis of kidney injury and fibrosis.
Beiyan Zhou, Associate Professor of Immunology, Ph.D., Northwestern University. Understanding the systemic network governed by epigenetic factors in immune cell development and function in obesity, incorporating animal models and OMICs-technologies to address the critical questions in the field, including mechanisms underlying histone modification factors and non-coding RNAs in modulating tissue specific stem cell features and immune cell interactions within the host tissue niche.
Yanjiao Zhou, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Ph.D., Tianjin Medical University, M.D., Zhangjiakou Medical College. Developing microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics for multiple sclerosis as well as other diseases, with a focus on how nutrition and microbial metabolites influence the gut-brain axis.
=The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine affiliated faculty