New Member Mini-Bios

Shehneela Baseer Hannover Medical School, Germany Shehneela is doing her Ph.D. at Hannover Medical School, Germany. Her Ph.D. research focuses on the developing a deep understanding of the immune response in hepatitis B vaccinated non-responsive individuals using a knowledge-driven approach. She did my Master’s in Bioinformatics at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, [READ MORE]

Erwin Le Scolan CytomX Therapeutics, South San Francisco, USA Dr. Le Scolan has over 15 years of research experience in immuno-oncology. He joined CytomX in 2017 as a Scientist in Cancer Immunology. Dr. Le Scolan initiated and is currently leading CytomX’s conditionally active cytokine therapeutics program. Prior to CytomX, Dr. [READ MORE]

Venkat Giri Magupalli Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA Venkat Giri Magupalli is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Pediatrics. His research focuses on innate immune recognition of pathogenic and sterile signals, with a special emphasis on the mechanistic basis of signal recognition [READ MORE]

Olivia Luise Gern Veterinary University of Hannover, Germany Olivia Luise Gern obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Life Science in Lille, France, where she focused on cell biology and physiology. Since she was always primarily interested in infectious diseases, she continued with a bi-national Master of Science in Infection Biology between [READ MORE]

Damian Bertheloot, Ph.D. Institute of Innate Immunity, Bonn, Germany Dr. Damien Bertheloot is passionate about the signature dying cells leave behind and the impact these molecular patterns have on the immune system. His first taste for the world of innate immunity came from an internship in the laboratory of Prof. [READ MORE]

Jonathan C. Kagan, Ph.D. Marian R. Neutra, PhD Professor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School Director of Basic Research and Shwachman Chair in Gastroenterology Boston Children’s Hospital Jon Kagan is a world leader in defining the molecular and cellular pathways by which the innate immune system recognizes microbes and infection. He [READ MORE]

Juan Pedro Lapuente, Ph.D. Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada LivingCells Lab Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain Dr. Juan Pedro Lapuente is a Medical Doctor from Zaragoza University, with several master’s degrees in cell and molecular biology and advanced therapies. He completed his PhD in cell and molecular biology at UCAM University in 2020. [READ MORE]

Takashi Nishina, Ph.D. Toho University Department of Biochemistry Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan Twitter: @nishina_takashi Takashi Nishina is an Assistant Professor in the laboratory of Prof. Hiroyasu Nakano at Toho University School of Medicine, Japan. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo, Japan, under the supervision of Prof. Junichiro Inoue. [READ MORE]

Dr. Fahar MerchantPresident & CEOMedicenna TherapeuticsToronto, Canadawww.medicenna.com Dr. Fahar Merchant is a biotech veteran with 30 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur and co-founder, President and CEO of Medicenna Therapeutics Inc. Previously, he was President and CEO of Protox Therapeutics Inc. where he transitioned a pre-clinical start-up to a [READ MORE]

Jan Pencik, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Salk Institute for Biological Studies La Jolla, United States 2015 ICIS-Sidney & Joan Pestka Graduate Award Winner Jan Pencik is a NOMIS Center Postdoctoral Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (La Jolla, US). Pencik is originally from Brno, Czech Republic. He obtained his [READ MORE]