R. P. Iyer, (Kris), Ph.D., FRSC is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals. He has more than 25 years’ experience in Biotechnology industry in drug discovery and development in diverse therapeutic areas including antivirals, inflammation and immune-oncology. Kris is a leading innovator in the fields of nucleic acid chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences with over 100 publications and 200 issued, as well as, filed US and international patents. Prior to Spring Bank, Kris was the co-founder and VP of Discovery of Origenix Technologies and also served as Associate Director of Antisense Discovery at Hybridon, Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Oligomerix, Inc., NY.

Cancer Immunology

Dr. Jerald C. Sadoff is currently the Head of Early Development of the Crucell Vaccine Institute which is the Center of Excellence for Vaccine Development for Johnson & Johnson Companies Worldwide. Dr. Sadoff has spent his entire career developing vaccines against a large number of bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases, 11 of which have been licensed for human use and several currently are in Phase IIB and Phase III clinical trials. He currently serves on several IPCAVD Scientific Advisory Boards for NIH sponsored HIV vaccine efforts and is on the NIAID AIDS Vaccine Research Working Group. Over the last 35 years, he has authored over 350 articles, book chapters, and abstracts and has 18 issued patents

Vaccine Development

Pierre A. MORGON is Chief Executive Officer of MRGN Advisors and Regional Partner for Switzerland at Mérieux Développement, an evergreen investment structure focused on medical devices, in vitro diagnostics and patient management services. He is also Chairman of the Board of Virometix since January 2017, a company developing proprietary synthetic nanoparticle platform in vaccines and immunotherapeutic drugs for viral diseases and cancer, as well as Non-Executive Director to the Board of Theradiag since March 2012, a company focusing on in vitro diagnostics in auto-immunity, infectious diseases and allergy, and Non-Executive Director to the Board of Eurocine Vaccines since December 2013, a company dedicated to developing nasal vaccines. He joined the board of Virometix as chairman in January 2017

Vaccines and Immunotherapeutic drugs for Viral diseases and Cancer

Benoit Tano, M.D. is a specialist, pioneer, and the Minneapolis area’s foremost expert in the field of Integrative Immunity. Dr. Tano is the founder of Integrative Immunity Health System, PC located in Edina, Minnesota. He is Johns Hopkins-fellowship trained in allergy and clinical immunology and authored the number one bestselling book, The Layman’s Guide to Integrative Immunity (2016). He combines his vast expertise in allergy and clinical immunology and in hormone imbalance syndrome to treat the root causes of 21st-century chronic diseases.

Clinical Immunology

Professor Andrzej K. Siwicki, VMD, Ph.D., DSc is a Head of Department Microbiology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury and Department of Pathology and Immunology IFI in Olsztyn, Poland. He is author of over 500 original papers in reputed journals and about 200 scientific communications (index-h 32, index of citation: 4502). His fields of interest are modulation of defence mechanisms and protection against diseases by natural and synthetic products in animals, influence of pollutants on the cell-mediated immunity and restoration of immunity after suppression induced by xenobiotics. Developed a new possibility in the comparative immunotoxicology for control of effect of xenobiotics and pharmaceutical products on the defence mechanisms and protection against diseases. He attended scientific missions in USA, Japan, France and Israel, was a co-ordinator of USDA and FAO projects and he is professor conferring of 14 PhDs and 4 DSc.

Microbiology and Clinical Immunology

1998-2003 Member of the Institut Universitaire de France Junior, then Honorary position 1998-2000 Senior Scientist at the Mind Body Institute of Harvard Medical School, USA 31/05/1995 Habilitation for directing research in Natural Sciences, University Lille 1 3/02/1993 Ph.D. in Life Science and Health, University Lille 1

Immunology

Prof. Dr. Ignat Ignatov was born on January 1, 1963 in the town of Teteven, Bulgaria. Тhe family Ignatov is from village of Gradina, region of Pleven, Bulgaria. In 1976 descrebes a phenomenon in which little apertures act like optic lenses. In 1989 Ignatov majored in physics from “Kliment Ohridski” Sofia University with master degree. In the same year he began his professional work in the sphere of medical biophysics. In 1996 he founded the Scientific and Research Center of Medical Biophysics (SRCMB) of which he is also an owner. Prof. Dr. Ignat Ignatov was a consultant of the National Center of Public Health (NCPH) at the Ministry of Health until 2003. The Bulgarian scientist is involved in research projects for the study of biophysical and medical effects in the application of alternative methodics for the influencing of human health. Bulgaria has a Health Act, which authorizes the practice of non-conventional (alternative) methodics. Trainings are carried out. From 2007 Ignat Ignatov is honorable doctor in European Academy of Natural Sciences (Germany). From 2013 he is Doctor of Science and Professor in The Russian Academy for Natural History. Prof. Ignatov is Chief Editor of two US journals. The first is Journal of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics. The second is Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing. The Bulgarian scientist is editor in chief in European Journal of Molecular Biotechnology, European Journal of Medicine - international bilingual scientific Journal and Research & Reviews in Biosciences.

Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics

He graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1990. He completed his specialist education in Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Internal Medicine Department in 1995 and his branch of Medical Oncology Unit in 1999. Associate Professor in 2000, Professor in 2007. Between 2004 and 2006, she worked as a guest lecturer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA to study breast cancer. Hacettepe University Institute of Health Sciences in 2013 and Hacettepe University Cancer Institute in 2013-2016 and Hacettepe University Internal Medicine Department and Medical Oncology Department in 2013-2015.

Oncology

Sr. Research Associate at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Former Research Assistant at Baylor College of Medicine Former Research Assistant at New York Medical College

Epidemiolgy, Biochemistry

Dr. Luiz Werber-Bandeira is a physician with emphasis in Clinical Immunology, head of Clinical Immunology at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia Hospital and responsible for all the professional team that compose the clinical body of Imunoderm, in the Botafogo neighborhood and Ilha do Governador, Rio de January. For 36 years in the profession, he has done Post-Doctorate in Immuno-Genetics from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FioCruz-RJ), a master's degree and a PhD from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He is coordinator of the Postgraduate Course in Immunology and Clinical and Laboratory Allergy, organizer responsible for the Research Line of the Clinical and Experimental Immunology Unit of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Rio de Janeiro, as well as a professor who participates in the line of research in PhotoDermatology and Immunology of UFRJ.

PhotoDermatology and Immunology

Dr. Ahmed Shoker was born in Egypt, graduated from the University of Alexandria, Egypt and moved to Canada in 1981. He received his training in general medicine at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He received his training in nephrology and transplantation at the University of Toronto where he received his fellowship training in transplantation between 1987 and1990. He then moved to the University of Saskatchewan. Currently, he is a Professor of Medicine and Nephrology at the University of Saskatchewan. He is the Medical Director of the provincial Transplant Program. His research interests include clinical trials and basic research in the field of immunosuppression and inflammation.

His current interest is the relationship between cardiovascular disease risk factors and inflammatory markers before and after kidney transplantation

As a Professor of Clinical and Chemical Pathology with an MD degree from the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University and as the current Head of the Electron Microscopic Research Department in the Theodor Bilharz Research Institute , a medical research institution affiliated to the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research I focus my research on the role of immune cells in combating hepatic diseases caused by helminthic (schistosomiasis), bacterial or viral infections (hepatitis virus ) using electron microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy to visualize cellular changes accompanying such diseases. I was involved in scientific cooperative research with German and French institutions and I am very open to different cultures. I speak fluent English, German, French, and Arabic.

I focus my research on the role of immune cells in combating hepatic diseases caused by helminthic (schistosomiasis), bacterial or viral infections (hepatitis virus ) using electron microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy to visualize cellular changes accompanying such diseases.

Qingxian Lu received his Bachelor's degree from Shandong University, Master's from Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, and Ph. D.The University of Texas.

His interests are focused on elucidating molecular mechanisms of three closely-related receptor tyrosine kinases, called Tyro3, Axl and Mertk (TAM), in the regulation of phagocytic activity in professional and non-professional phagocytes, particularly in the retinal pigmental epithelium cells in the eye. Phagocytic clearance of the spent photoreceptor distal outer segment (OS) tips by the retinal pigmental epithelium (RPE) cells is essential to maintain photoreceptor homeostasis. Failure of RPE phagocytosis of the OS leads to retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Mutation in the Mertk receptor tyrosine kinase causes photoreceptor degeneration. To understand the molecular role of Mertk in phagocytosis, we have used Mertk mutated RPE cells as a model to identify Mertk downstream target genes or signaling molecules that are involved in regulation of the phagocytic events.

Associate Professor Dr. Gamil G. S. Zeedan obtained Ph.D. Virology ,Cairo University Egypt , MVSCs Virology, Cairo University. BVSCs , Cairo University . 2015 up to date Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Virology at Clinical laboratory Sciences at College of Applied Medical Sciences Shaqra University Saudi Arabia,2014 -2015 Associate Professor of Microbiology at National Research Center Ministry of High Education - Cairo Egypt -Cairo Egypt, .10-2013 Assistant Professor of Microbiology at Faculty of Medicine and Applied Medical Sciences –Northern Border University (NBU)- KSA) for 3acdemic years 2007- 2010,Assistant Researcher at National Research Center- Ministry of High Education - Cairo Egypt. He teaching the following curriculum,Medical Microbiology and Virology, Diagnostic Microbiology ,Clinical Rotation of Microbiology and Clinical Rotation Immunology & Virology. 2015- up-to-date Microbiology at Clinical laboratory Sciences at College of Applied Medical Sciences Shaqra University Saudi Arabia . 2010-52013 Microbiology in faculty of Medicine and Applied medical Sciences - Northern Border University, Saudi Arabia. Participate in teaching Medical Microbiology ( Virology ) MICM 311 courses for 3rd-year Medical students (3 hours/week).Participate in teaching Diagnostic Microbiology

Microbiology and Virology

Thomas Böldicke, PhD, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Department Structural and Functional Protein Research, Inhoffenstr. 7, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany

Immunology, Intracellular antibodies.

Thomas Grundström completed his doctorate at Umeå University in 1981 and his Medical degree in 1982. Dr. Grundström was post-doc 1982-1984 in the laboratory of prof. Pierre Chambon, Strasbourg, France, where he characterised the first discovered enhancer of transcription. He is professor at the department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University since 1994. Dr. Grundström discovered the first direct Ca2+/calmodulin inhibition of a transcription factor (Corneliusen et al., Nature, 1994) and has characterized the Ca2+ regulation of many regulatory proteins with a focus on the immune system. Dr. Grundström is presently studying regulation of production of high affinity antibodies

Immunology, Molecular Biology

Professor Lu’s research has focused on studying immune dysregulations in autoimmune diseases. During last ten years, his laboratory has been exploring novel strategies for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. His team was among the first to successfully treat autoimmune arthritis by targeting the cytokine B-cell activating factor in a preclinical study, which has significant therapeutic implications for the effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Professor Lu is an internationally recognized expert in the field of autoimmunity. He is the Councilor of Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania and has served as Chairman of Hong Kong Society for Immunology. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers in leading immunology and rheumatology journals.

Identification of genes involved in regulating lymphocyte development and function. Regulation of lymphocyte apoptosis in the quality control and homeostatic regulation. Gene silencing of novel TNF family cytokines for treating autoimmune disease.

Roswitha Gropp has over 25 years of experience in preclinical development and inflammatory diseases. She recently took on a different view considering the inflammatory process in UC as an uncontrolled wound healing process. This hypothesis assumes that epithelial damage induces the release of signals to evoke a Th2 characterized inflammatory response that ultimately results in repair of the colon. Using agent based modeling first disease maps were developed to describe the inflammatory milieu and the dynamics of the inflammatory response. This approach together with immunological profiling of patients allows for a better understanding of underlying mechanisms ultimately leading to individualized therapies.

Immunology

Thomas Böldicke completed his PhD at the age of 26 years at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. He has been working for 25 years in the field of recombinant antibodies particularly intrabodies. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals.

Immunology

Professor Tim Elliott is Professor of Experimental Medicine within Medicine at the University of Southampton. Professor Tim Elliott left the University of Oxford with a first in Biochemistry in 1983, received a PhD from the University of Southampton in 1986 and completed his postdoctoral training at MIT. He held a lectureship and later a professorship in immunology (Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine and Balliol College, University of Oxford) between 1990-2000 before being appointed to the Chair of Experimental Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Southampton. He was Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Medicine between 2005 and 2015. He’s held appointments on Scientific Advisory boards at the Wellcome Trust, the Association of International Cancer Research, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, and Symphogen, and currently chairs the CRUK Expert Review Group for Cancer Immunology He has published over 130 papers (h-index, 48) in the field of molecular immunology; was visiting lecturer of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, University of Edmonton, Alberta in 1999; and recently held a visiting Professorship at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and in 2014 he was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Elliott was amongst the key group of immunologists who developed studies of antigen presentation at the molecular level during the 1980s, undertaking a series of studies to determine and define the immunostimulatory properties of MHC Class I molecules and elucidating the molecular mechanisms of co-factor assisted peptide loading of MHC Class I in antigen presenting cells: work considered to be the fundamental foundation of much of the recent work on antigen presentation. The work underpins rational T-cell based vaccine design and continues to fuel translational research in Southampton where discoveries in the areas of antigen discovery, T cell regulation and immunodominance are making a significant impact on new and ongoing cancer immunotherapy trials. His mechanistic studies have always benefitted from an active interface with the physical sciences including collaborations with synthetic and computational chemistry and recently with Microsoft UK. He developed a 4 year integrated PhD programme in Biomedical Science which is now in its eleventh year.

Immunology,Immunotherapy,Experimental Medicine, Experimental Oncology

Dr. Schwarz received her medical degree from Washington University. She then completed her residency in pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Schwarz is Director of the Pediatric Liver Center at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in which there are over 1,000 patients who receive medical care. She focuses on liver disorders of childhood with a particular emphasis on biliary atresia, metabolic liver disorders, autoimmune liver disease, and viral hepatitis B and C. Dr. Schwarz is Medical Director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at Johns Hopkins and directs NIH-funded grants in a variety of pediatric liver diseases, including biliary atresia, and other cholestatic liver diseases of childhood such as Alagille Syndrome, PFIC 1,2 and 3, alpha-1 antitrypson deficiency, mitochondrial hepatopathy and cystic fibrosis liver disease. She also directs grants and clinical trials in pediatric hepatitis B and C. Dr. Schwarz was named one of Baltimore Magazine's top 25 pediatricians, and she has won teaching awards at both St. Louis University and Johns Hopkins University. In 2005, she received the Distinguished Service Award of the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition . She is currently the President of this organization. Since 2001, she has been named one of the Castle Connolly Top Doctors in America. Dr. Schwarz also has been designated a U.S. News and World Report “Top Doctor” and identified as being in the top 1% of pediatric gastroenterologists in the nation.

Biliary Atresia, Metabolic Liver Disorders, Autoimmune Liver Disease, Viral Hepatitis B and C Pediatric Liver Transplantation

Federica Marelli-Berg qualified in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan in 1989, and specialized in Hematology in 1993 at the University of Pavia, Italy. In 1997 she completed her PhD studies at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School (London) under the supervision of Professor R. Lechler. In 2000 she was awarded a Governors’ lectureship by Imperial College London, where she continued her academic career to become Professor of Immunology in 2011. She joined the WHRI (Barts and The London SMD, QMUL) as Professor of Cardiovascular Immunology in November 2011, and in January 2014 she was invited to lead the Centre for Biochemical Pharmacology. In 2015 she has been awarded a prestigious Personal Chair in Cardiovascular Immunology by the British Heart Foundation.

Cardiovascular Immunology, Biochemical Pharmacology

Ildikó Molnár MD has completed her PhD at the age of 39 years at the candidate of science course (PhD) of Hungarian Academy of Science. Work and research connected her to Kenézy County and Teaching Hospital from 1977 to 2008. Now she is the chief of EndoMed, Immunoendocrinology, Private Outpatient Clinic from 2008. She is an expert in ELISA, Western and ECL blottings, colorimetric iodine measurement, as well as in allergy testing and bone density measurement with Hologic DEXA. She has published more than 48 papers in reputed journals, 16 chapters and 2 books.

ELISA, Western and ECL blottings, colorimetric iodine measurement

Dr. Bozena Futoma-Kol‚och graduated from University of Wrocl‚aw in 2004. She received her PhD mentored by Prof. W. Doroszkiewicz in microbiology from the University of Wrocław in 2008. After that she has held academic position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology in the Institute of Genetics and Microbiology at University of Wrocl‚aw. She is a member of Polish Society of Microbiologists (which belongs to the Federation of European Microbiological Societies - FEMS), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases - ESCMID, and International Complement Society - ICS. She has published more than 50 papers in national and international journals, 30 presentations at congresses, with several awards. Dr. Futoma-Kołoch's research program focuses on the bacterial surface antigens: lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin) and outer membrane proteins (OMP) as molecular targets of the protective immune response against pathogenic bacteria, especially Salmonella. Investigations on susceptibility of Salmonella strains possessing sialic acid-containing LPS to human serum (HS) resulted in many publications about the role of atypical bacterial endotoxin in determining complement system activation through the alternative pathway. It was also shown that differential sensitivity of tested bacteria to HS might be due to a weaker C3 serum protein activation on strongly sialylated LPS and a binding of C3 components to the OMP.

Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology

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

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

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

Apitherapy, Immunology

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

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

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

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

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

Immunology, Vaccines

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

Immunology

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

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

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

Immunology

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

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

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

Immunology autoimmune diseases autoantibodies and neutrophils Research Interest

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

Immunology
Tolerance and autoimmunity
Immune responses

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

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

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

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

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

Immunology

Charles J Malemud is Associate Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program at University Hospitals Case Medical Center Professor of Medicine Anatomy Division of Rheumatic Diseases Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Cleveland Ohio. He received the Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from the Department of Biology at George Washington University Washington DC 1969-1973. He completed his BS in Biology at Long Island University 1966. He was elected to James Shannon Award Who´s Who in Healthcare and Medicine. He is serving as an editorial board member of 9 reputed journals and a peer-reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He has published a total of over 300 peer-reviewed papers abstracts and book chapters.

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

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

Brucella microbiology and immunology research Vaccine Ontology Ontology of Adverse Events

Yehuda Shoenfeld is the founder and head of the Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, at the Sheba Medical Center which is affiliated to the Sackler Faculty of Medicine in Tel-Aviv University, in Israel. Dr. Shoenfeld is the Incumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases at the Tel-Aviv University. His clinical and scientific works focus on autoimmune and rheumatic diseases, and he has published more than 1700 papers in journals such as New Eng J Med, Nature, Lancet, Proc Nat Acad Scie, J Clin Invest, J Immunol, Blood, FASEB, J Exp Med, Circulation, Cancer and others. His articles have had over 31,000 citations. He has written more than three hundred and fifty chapters in books, and has authored and edited 25 books, some of which became cornerstones in science and clinical practice, such as "The Mosaic of Autoimmunity", "Infections and Autoimmunity" and the textbook "Autoantibodies" and "Diagnostic criteria of autoimmune diseases", all of which were published by Elsevier and sold by the thousands. He is on the editorial board of 43 journals in the field of rheumatology and autoimmunity and is the founder and the editor of the IMAJ (Israel Medical Association Journal) the representative journal of science and medicine in the English language in Israel, and also is the founder and Editor of the "Autoimmunity Reviews" (Elsevier) (Impact factor 6.6) and Co-Editor of "Journal of Autoimmunity" (Impact factor 7.4). For the last twenty years Dr. Shoenfeld has been the Editor of "Harefuah" The Israel journal in medicine (Hebrew) and he has edited the Israel Medical Encyclopedia (10 volumes, 5000 items). He had organized over 20 international congresses in autoimmunity. He is the editor-in-chief for Journal of Autoimmunity along with M. Eric Gershwin (University of California, Davis). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2012 impact factor of 8.145, ranking it 11th out of 137 journals in the category "Immunology”. This journal is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research on all aspects of autoimmunity. It was established in 1988 and is published 8 times per year by Elsevier.

Autoimmune Diseases

Michael G. Hanna is the founder of Vaccinogen and the discoverer and developer of OncoVAX® an autologous vaccine designed to provoke a specific immune response against colon cancer cells. His previous accomplishments include Chairman (Emeritus) and Chief Scientific Officer of Intracel Resources, Chief Operating Officer of Organon Teknika/Biotechnology Research Institute and Sr. Vice President of Organon Teknika Corporation. Prior to that (1975-1982) Michael G. Hanna was Director of the National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Center. OncoVAX® is an autologous vaccine designed to provoke a specific immune response against colon cancer cells. The product is comprised of irradiated tumor cells obtained from the patient after surgery and it is administered along with the BCG vaccine. Vaccinogen believes OncoVAX® is the first product to show a significant reduction in recurrence of disease in Stage II colon cancer patients in a major, long-term clinical trial. Except for surgery, there is no medically accepted treatment for Stage II colon cancer. Trials using adjuvant chemotherapy have not demonstrated any patient benefit to date. He led the team that achieved FDA regulatory approval of TICE BCG for treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) bladder cancer. Worldwide registration was achieved in 1991 and it is standard of care for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and therapy of CIS. He received a doctoral degree in experimental pathology and immunology from the University of Tennessee. He has over 225 publications to his credit, has 11 patents in immunotherapy and has been the recipient of numerous honors, and served on many editorial boardsBiography

Cancer Vaccines

Lewellys F. Barker, MD, MPH, is currently Senior Medical Advisor at Aeras, a non-profit product development partnership based in Rockville, Maryland, which is conducting R&D on new TB vaccines. He served in the US Public Health Service as a medical research laboratory and clinical investigator and senior manager with the NIH Division of Biologics Standards and the US Food and Drug Administration Bureau of Biologics, and at the Division of AIDS of the US NIH/NIAID, with responsibilities for product development, regulation, and public health applications. He also worked as a Senior Vice President at the American Red Cross with responsibility for the Red Cross blood program. His major career activities have included preclinical and clinical research on viral (e.g., hepatitis, HIV, smallpox), rickettsial and bacterial (TB) vaccines, immune globulins and diagnostics for detection, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and School of Public Health and trained in Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and New York University/Bellevue Hospital.

viral (e.g., hepatitis, HIV, smallpox) Rickettsial and bacterial (TB) vaccines Immune globulins and diagnostics for detection Treatment and prevention of infectious diseases.

Howard L. Kaufman is the Director of the Rush University Cancer Center. He also serves as an Associate Dean of the Rush University Medical Center and is Professor of Surgery, Internal Medicine-Medical Oncology, and Immunology & Microbiology at Rush University Medical College. Dr. Kaufman completed medical school at Loyola University in Chicago, surgical residency at Boston University and fellowship training in Tumor Immunology and Surgical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He serves on several editorial boards and has published over 200 manuscripts, books, book chapters, review articles and abstracts. He is as a consultant to the NCI and several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the iSBTc. He has conducted over 50 clinical trials, including Phase I, II and III investigator-initiated, industry-sponsored, NIH-sponsored, cooperative group and multi-institutional studies related to the role of immunotherapy and surgical resection as treatment options for patients with melanoma and other cancers.Biography

Cancer immunotherapy Melanoma vaccines. Research Interest

Anil Shanker is an Associate Professor in the Biochemistry and Cancer Biology at Meharry Medical College. He is also a member of Vanderbilt-Ingram Comprehensive Cancer Center at Vanderbilt University. Dr.Shanker obtained his PhD from Banaras Hindu University in 1999. He performed his postdoctoral studies in tumor immunology at the CNRS/INSERM Center of Immunology, France and the National Cancer Institute,Maryland. His laboratory focuses on understanding functional cross-talk between T lymphocytes and natural killer cells and their activation signaling mechanisms in tumor models. He has over 30 research publications to his credit in cancer and immunology journals.

Host-Tumor Interactions and Thoracic/Head and Neck Cancer Research Functional cooperativity and signaling mechanisms in immune effector cells Tumor cell-death sensitizing and immunostimulatory agents in adoptive immunotherapy settings Pharmacological activation of Notch 1 signaling to enhance lymphocyte functions and overcome tumor-associated immunosuppression

Following a 5-year career as a Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer in histocompatability testing at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School London, I moved into academic research with Professor Barry Kay at the Brompton Hospital, London. This was followed by a year spent as a visiting Fellow at the Allergy Division, National Children's Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. I then returned to London and completed my PhD at the National Heart & Lung Institute, University of London, Brompton Hospital. A postdoctoral position with Colin Sanderson at the University of Oxford was followed by a move in 1992 to the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Leicester Medical School as a senior research fellow/honorary lecturer and later honorary senior lecturer. I was awarded a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship in 1995 and joined the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen as a Senior Lecturer in 1997 being appointed Reader in 2004. Visiting Professor of Immunity and Inflammation, Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin. My research career in asthma and Allergy spans some 25 years and has resulted in the publication of over 150 papers, editorials and review articles in major international scientific and medical journals.

My major interests involve elucidation of the molecular mechanisms controlling the initiation and resolution of the inflammatory processes underlying asthmatic and allergic disease, with an emphasis on the role played by the cells of the bronchial epithelium and eosinophils together with expertise in the anti-inflammatory properties and potential side-effects of antihistamines.

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

Immunology autoimmune diseases autoantibodies and neutrophilsResearch Interest

Gregory Lee completed his Ph. D from California Institute of Technology and postdoctoral studies from University of California, San Diego. He became a full Professor at University of British Columbia in 1989, and retired in 2012 with the title of Professor Emeritus. He is the co-founder of Vancouver BioTech Ltd. He has published more than 200 papers, including 30 papers in cancer research. He has been serving as an editorial board member of the Journal of Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis, and the Journal of Cancer Science and Therapy since 2012.

Research and Development of Antibody-Based Anti-Cancer Drugs. RP215 monoclonal antibody was shown to recognize specifically a carbohydrate-associated epitope located on the variable regions of cancer cell expressed immunoglobulins, designated in general as CA215.Structural elucidation of carbohydrate-associated epitope in CA215 which is recognized by RP215 monoclonal antibody (Mab). Humanizations of RP215 Mab for preclinical studies. Generations of Rat anti-idiotype Mabs as candidates for the development of anti-cancer vaccines in humans. Establishment of an Anti-GnRH receptor Mab, GHR106, as a substitute of short-acting GnRH analogs for antibody-based anti-cancer drugs, as well as preclinical studies. Elucidation of mechanisms of action for RP215 and GHR106 as antibody-based anti-cancer drugs. Elucidation of a carbohydrate-associated epitope recognized by RP215 monoclonal antibodies.

Michelle L. North, PhD, is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is supported by an Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award, and her research focuses on epigenetics and the developmental origins of allergic disease. She is also involved in clinical studies in the Environmental Exposure Unit at Kingston General Hospital. Her research interests also include the relationship between air pollution and allergic disease. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, in the Institute of Medical Science, with specializations in Environment & Health and Biomedical Toxicology. Her doctoral thesis focused primarily on murine models of allergic airways inflammation and airways hyperresponsiveness and was supported by a Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award.

Epigenetics Air pollution Ozone Arginase Nitric oxide synthase Developmental origins of allergy Atopy Cord Blood Murine models Airways hyperresponsiveness