Dr. Kodi S. Ravichandran is an immunologist known for his groundbreaking research in efferocytosis, a process responsible for clearing billions of dying cells from our bodies daily. Efferocytosis critically influences inflammatory diseases such as lupus, arthritis, airway inflammation, atherosclerosis, and colitis. Currently Dr. Ravichandran is the Robert L. Kroc Professor and Chief of the Division of Immunobiology at Washington University in Saint Louis, USA. Dr. Ravichandran started with a Veterinary Medicine degree from India, followed by a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Massachusetts.

His postdoctoral work at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under Dr. Steven Burakoff led to his discoveries on T cell signaling and adapter proteins. In 1996, Dr. Ravichandran joined the University of Virginia, where he rapidly advanced to Full Professor and served as Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. He moved to Washington University in St. Louis in early 2022. The contributions from Dr. Ravichandran’s laboratory have resulted in >190 publications, and recognition as a “Highly Cited Researcher.” Beyond research, Dr. Ravichandran has mentored over 60 young scientists, many of whom now hold esteemed positions globally, embodying his commitment to developing the next generation of leaders in immunology.

Dr Michelle Monje, MD, PhD, is a professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She is recognized as an international leader in the pathophysiology of glioma, especially diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG)/H3K27M-mutated diffuse midline gliomas and a pioneer in the emerging field of Cancer Neuroscience. Her clinical focus is on childhood glial malignancies and cognitive impairment after childhood cancer therapy.

Her laboratory studies neuron-glial interactions in health and disease, with a particular focus on mechanisms and consequences of neuron-glial interactions in health, glial dysfunction in cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment and neuron-glial interactions in malignant glioma. Together with these basic studies, Michelle’s research program has advanced preclinical studies of novel therapeutics for pediatric high-grade gliomas and cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment in order to translate new therapies to the clinic. She has led several of her discoveries from basic molecular work to clinical trials for children and young adults with brain tumors including a promising clinical trial of CAR T cell therapy for DIPG and diffuse midline gliomas.

Following the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, the challenge now is to decipher the information encoded within the human genetic code — including genes, regulatory controls and cellular circuitry. Such understanding is fundamental to the study of physiology in both health and disease. At the Broad Institute, his lab collaborates with other to discover and understand the genes responsible for rare genetic diseases, common diseases, and cancer; the genetic variation and evolution of the human genome; the basis of gene regulation via enhancers, long non-coding RNAs, and three-dimensional folding of the genome; the developmental trajectories of cellular differentiation; and the history of the human population.

Dr. Ronny Drapkin is the Franklin Payne Associate Professor of Pathology in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a physician scientist who received his PhD in biochemistry & molecular biology in 1996 and his MD in 1998, both from Rutgers University in New Jersey. His postdoctoral training is in anatomic pathology (Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts) and cancer biology (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts). As Director
of the Ovarian Cancer Research Center and Basser Center for Breast Cancer, he leads a multidisciplinary team in translating important biological principles discovered in the laboratory into clinically useful diagnostic and therapeutic tools. His own research program is focused on understanding the pathogenesis and genetic alterations that underlie the development of ovarian cancer.