2016 - 2017 Lecture

February 7, 2017, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Venue: Winship Ballroom, Dobbs University Center, Emory University

Honoree: Rafi Ahmed, Ph.D. | GRA Eminent Scholar and Director of the Emory Vaccine Center

About the Honoree

Dr. Rafi Ahmed is the Georgia Research Alliance Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.  He earned his undergraduate degree from Osmania University, India and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After completing his postdoctoral training in the Department of Immunology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, CA, he joined the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the UCLA School of Medicine.  He was at UCLA from 1984-1995 and moved to Emory University in 1995.  His research efforts are directed towards: 1. Understanding the mechanisms of immunological memory and using this knowledge to develop new and more effective vaccines. 2. Defining the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion during chronic viral infections and cancer and developing strategies for restoring function in exhausted T cells.  Dr. Ahmed is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.

About the Lecture

The Distinguished Faculty Lecture recognizes excellence among university faculty. A Faculty Council committee provides a nomination to the university president and provost for approval. In keeping with Emory's commitment to broadening knowledge within the university and wider Atlanta communities, the selected faculty member delivers a public lecture in the spring of each academic year.