This year’s SIS was held at the University of Virginia on June 6-7, 2025. Xinran Wang was selected as the StemCell Technologies Young Investigator and presented her research at the symposium. Several lab members also presented at the poster session.
“How do we engage with people that we are supposed to be serving?” Dr. Frances Lund, director of the Immunology Institute and professor of Microbiology at UAB, said at the Aspen Ideas Health in Aspen, CO on June 25, 2025.
She was invited as a guest speaker at the session “The Future of Vaccine Science” and talked about vaccine technologies, the importance of basic science and fundamental research, and how scientists can communicate better with the public and have better outreach strategies.
Watch the whole session at https://www.aspenideas.org/sessions/the-future-of-vaccine-science.
Eddie-Williams Owiredu was selected as student speaker for the David E. Wells Memorial Symposium hosted by the Department of Microbiology on May 21, 2025. He won the “Best Presentation” award for his presentation “IRF1 attenuates inflammatory gene programs in B cells and alters pathogenic B Cell subsets in autoimmunity and inflammaging” amongst the three student speakers.
Fran Lund, Ph.D., an internationally recognized scientist who has uncovered crucial additional roles for the immune system’s antibody-generating B cells, has been selected for the academic medical center’s highest faculty honor. Learn more about her career and current work in immune memory in this article.
Selene Meza-Perez, Ph.D., instructor in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, has been named the latest recipient of the school’s Featured Discovery award. This recognition celebrates notable research contributions made by faculty and highlights the impact of their scientific advancements.
The study, titled “Proteobacteria impair anti-tumor immunity in the omentum by consuming arginine,” was recently published in Cell Host & Microbe and explores the complex relationship between gut bacteria and immune responses, particularly how certain bacteria can hinder the body’s natural ability to fight tumors.
Dr. Randall was awarded for his outstanding contributions to the research mission of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center (OCCC) at UAB at the OCCC Research Retreat on October 18, 2024.
Aaron Lucander, MD-PhD graduate trainee, presented his poster titled “Structural Identification of Immunodominant HLA Epitopes Targeted by Class I HLA-Specific Antibodies in Kidney Allograft Recipients” at the American Society of Nephrology conference on October 22, 2024.
The 11th Annual Southeastern Immunology Symposium was held at the Red Mountain Theatre on August 16-17, 2024 and out of 208 abstract submissions, several lab members were chosen for their outstanding research.
Eddie-Williams Owiredu won the Beckman Coulter Young Investigator Oral Presentation Award
Susana Cheetham and Christopher Risley won the AAI Young Investigator Poster Award.
Xinran Wang won the People’s Choice Award.
Eddie-Williams Owiredu gave an oral presentation at the Graduate Biomedical Sciences and Joint Health Sciences 2024 Research Symposium on August 9. At the GBS Symposium, students presented their research in three formats: oral presentations, flash talk presentations, and a poster session. Students across all themes presented their research to postdoc judges, faculty, and peers.
Eddie-Williams Owiredu won 2nd place for the oral presentation.
