2025 Career Awards
Each year, AAI recognizes the extraordinary professional achievements and career promise of its members. The following are the recipients of the 2025 Career Awards being presented at IMMUNOLOGY2025™.
Saturday, May 3 | 16:00 | Ballroom BC
AAI Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation
This award recognizes a member for a remarkable career of scientific achievement and contributions to AAI and the field of immunology.
Chair:
- Stephen C. Jameson, Univ. of Minnesota Med. Sch., USA, AAI President
Presented to:
Leslie J. Berg
Univ. of Colorado Sch. of Med., USA
Dr. Jameson will introduce the awardee and present the award immediately prior to the President’s Address.
Saturday, May 3 | 16:00 | Ballroom BC
Distinguished Fellows of AAI Class of 2025 Acknowledgment
Chair:
- Stephen C. Jameson, Univ. of Minnesota Med. Sch., USA, AAI President
The Distinguished Fellows of AAI annually recognizes members for distinguished careers and outstanding scientific contributions as well as their service to AAI and the immunology community. It honors active, long-term members (25 or more years) who have demonstrated one or more of the following: excellence in research accomplishment in the field of immunology; exceptional leadership to the immunology community in academia, foundations, nonprofits, industry, or government at a national or international level; notable distinction as an educator.
Dr. Jameson will acknowledge the honorees prior to the start of the President’s Address.
Sunday, May 4 | 9:00 | Ballroom A
AAI Distinguished Service Awards Presentation
This award recognizes AAI members for outstanding service to the AAI community and the field of immunology.
Chair:
- Loretta L. Doan, AAI Chief Executive Officer
Presented to:
Julie M. Jameson
California State Univ., San Marcos, USA
Edith Porter
California State Univ., Los Angeles, USA
Drs. Jameson and Porter are recognized for leading development of the AAI undergraduate curriculum recommendations, 2019-2021.
AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the awards during the AAI Business Meeting.
Sunday, May 4 | 9:00 | Ballroom A
AAI ASPIRE Awards Presentations
These awards recognize early career research accomplishments and professional promise in the field of immunology.
Chair:
- Loretta L. Doan, AAI Chief Executive Officer
Presented to:
Mohammad Arifuzzaman
Weill Cornell Med., USA
Christopher O. Barnes
Stanford Univ., USA
Brandon J. DeKosky
The Ragon Inst. & MIT, USA
Anna-Maria Globig
Allen Inst. for Immunology, USA
Jenna Guthmiller
Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Med. Campus, USA
Miguel Reina Campos
La Jolla Inst. for Immunology, USA
Pamela Rosato
Geisel Sch. of Med. at Dartmouth, USA
AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the awards during the AAI Business Meeting.
Sunday, May 4 | 11:45 – 13:45 | Room 312
AAI ASPIRE Awards Symposium and Networking
These awards recognize early career research accomplishments and professional promise in the field of immunology. The award lectures will be followed by a networking reception.
Chair:
- Akiko Iwasaki, HHMI, Yale Sch. of Med., USA, AAI Past President
Speakers:
- Christopher O. Barnes, Stanford Univ., USA, Hitting a moving target: next-generation therapies to combat SARS-CoV-2 evolution
- Jenna Guthmiller, Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Med. Campus, USA, Harnessing the ghosts of influenza past to generate protective humoral immunity
- Mohammad Arifuzzaman, Weill Cornell Med., USA, Dietary fiber and microbiota-derived bile acids regulate type 2 immune response and metabolic homeostasis
Sunday, May 4 | 13:15 – 14:15 | Room 313B
AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award Presentation and Lecture
Generously supported by BD Biosciences
This award recognizes an individual for noteworthy early career achievement in immunology research.
Chair:
- Joan Goverman, Univ. of Washington, USA, AAI Secretary/Treasurer
Presented to:
Noah W. Palm
Yale Sch.of Med., USA
Mapping uncharted landscapes of host-microbiota connectivity
Dr. Goverman and AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the award immediately prior to the lecture.
Sunday, May 4 | 15:30 – 16:30 | Room 313A
AAI Lancefield Mid-Career Achievement Award Presentation and Lecture
Sponsored by the AAI Committee on the Status of Women
This award recognizes a mid-career woman investigator for outstanding research and leadership.
Chair:
- Jessica A. Chacon, Texas Tech Hlth. El Paso, USA, AAI Committee on the Status of Women Member
Presented to:
Gretchen Diehl
Sloan Kettering Inst., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Ctr., USA
Microbiota and intestinal immune development and function
Dr. Chacon and AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the award immediately prior to the lecture.
Sunday, May 4 | 16:15 – 17:15 | Room 312
FASEB Excellence in Science Early-Career Investigator Award Lecture
This award recognizes excellence, innovation, and leadership by a female early career investigator whose research has contributed significantly to a particular discipline in biological science.
Chair:
- Juan Carlos Zuñiga-Pflücker, Univ. of Toronto and Sunnybrook Res. Inst., USA
Presented to:
Mariana Byndloss
Vanderbilt Univ. Med. Ctr., USA
Uncovering intestinal epithelium-microbiota metabolic interactions in health and disease
Monday, May 5 | 12:30 – 13:30 | Room 313C
AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award Presentation and Lecture
Generously supported by Thermo Fisher Scientific
This award recognizes a mid-career scientist for exceptional research contributions to the field of immunology.
Chair:
- Akiko Iwasaki, HHMI, Yale Sch. of Med., USA, AAI Past President
Presented to:
Vijay K. Kuchroo
The Gene Lay Inst. of Immunology and Inflammation, Brigham and Women’s Hosp., Massachusetts General Hosp., Harvard Med. Sch., and Broad Inst. of MIT and Harvard, USA
T cell differentiation in disease and tissues
Dr. Iwasaki and AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the award immediately prior to the lecture.
Monday, May 5 | 13:15 – 14:15 | Room 314
AAI-Steinman Award for Human Immunology Research Presentation and Lecture
This award recognizes an individual for significant, sustained achievement in immunology research pertinent to human disease pathogenesis, prevention, or therapy.
Chair:
- Ulrich H. von Andrian, Ragon Inst. of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Harvard Med. Sch., USA, AAI Vice President
Presented to:
Bali Pulendran
Stanford Univ. Sch. of Med., USA
Systems vaccinology
Dr. von Andrian and AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the award immediately prior to the lecture.
Monday, May 5 | 15:30 – 16:30 | Room 313C
AAI Vanguard Award Presentation and Lecture
Sponsored by the AAI Minority Affairs Committee
This award recognizes the research achievement and exemplary career success by an underrepresented investigator.
Chair:
- Beth Tamburini, Univ. of Colorado Sch. of Med., USA, AAI Minority Affairs Committee Chair
Presented to:
Jose R. Conejo-Garcia
Duke Sch. of Med., USA
Biology-guided development of off-the-shelf CAR gamma/delta T cells for solid tumor therapy
Dr. Tamburini and AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the award immediately prior to the lecture.
Tuesday, May 6 | 11:45 – 13:15 | Room 312
AAI ASPIRE Awards Symposium and Networking
These awards recognize early career research accomplishments and professional promise in the field of immunology. The award lectures will be followed by a networking reception.
Chair:
- Ulrich H. von Andrian, Ragon Inst. of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Harvard Med. Sch., USA, AAI Vice President
Speakers:
- Miguel Reina Campos, La Jolla Inst. for Immunology, USA, Spatial instructions of tissue immunity
- Pamela Rosato, Geisel Sch. of Med. at Dartmouth, USA, Resident memory T cells on the brain
Tuesday, May 6 | 14:30 | Ballroom BC
AAI Excellence in Mentoring Award Acknowledgment
This award recognizes a member for exemplary career contributions to a future generation of scientists.
Chair:
- Stephen C. Jameson, Univ. of Minnesota Med. Sch., USA, AAI President
Presented to:
Ronald N. Germain
NIAID, NIH, USA
Dr. Jameson will acknowledge the awardee immediately prior to the President’s Symposium.
Tuesday, May 6 | 17:15 – 18:00 | Ballroom BC
AAI-BioLegend Herzenberg Award Presentation and Distinguished Lecture
Generously supported by BioLegend
This award recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions to the field of immunology in the area of B cell biology.
Chair:
- Chandrashekhar Pasare, Cincinnati Children’s Hosp. Med. Ctr., USA, AAI Program Committee Chair
Presented to:
David G. Schatz
Yale Sch. of Med., USA
A personal, structural, and evolutionary journey with RAG
Dr. Pasare and AAI President Stephen C. Jameson will present the award immediately prior to the lecture.