ImmunoTargets and Therapy

Professor Michael Shurin

Department of Pathology and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Michael R. Shurin, MD, PhD is a Professor of Pathology and Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an associate director of the Division of Clinical Immunopathology. After graduation from medical school in Moscow and additional clinical training, Professor Shurin proceeded his research career in psychoneuroimmunology and obtained a PhD degree in immunopharmacology from the State Research Institute for Pharmacology in Moscow, Russia. From 1991, Michael Shurin was a member of the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh at the departments of surgery and pathology. He leads a unique research program focusing on cellular and molecular interactions in the tumor microenvironment supported by NIH and other foundations.

He is well known for his studies on dendritic cells in cancer. Professor Shurin has published more than 200 papers, reviews and book chapters, edited four books, including "The Tumor Immunoenvironment" and "Infection and Cancer: Bidirectorial Interactions", organized several international conferences on immune-mediated diseases, immunodiagnostics and cancer immunotherapy. He served on NIH, DoD and ACS study session, several editorial boards and advisory committees.

Professor Jadwiga Jablonska

Translational Oncology, Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg‑Essen, Essen, Germany

Jadwiga Jablonska, PhD is a Head of Translational Oncology at the Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Essen, Germany. After graduation from University Wroclaw (Poland), Prof. Jablonska moved to Germany and continued her research career in immunology. She obtained a PhD degree in Molecular Immunology from Technical University Braunschweig, Germany. Since 2018, Jadwiga Jablonska is a member of the faculty at the University Hospital Essen at the department of Otolaryngology where she leads a research group focusing on the regulatory role of myeloid cells in cancer. In 2023 she was appointed associate professor at the Medical Faculty of University Duisburg-Essen.

Prof. Jablonska focuses on the myeloid cell/neutrophil-dependent immunoregulatory mechanisms that are responsible for the progression of cancerogenesis and inflammation in the translational experimental setting - both in mice and humans. She has published more than 50 papers, served several editorial boards and advisory grant committees.

Dr Flavio Salazar-Onfray

Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

Dr. Flavio Salazar Onfray is a Professor at the Disciplinary Program of Immunology in the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile. He is a biologist from the University of Uppsala and gained his PhD from Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Dr. Salazar's research interests are focused on several aspects of tumor immunology, from basic research to clinical trials.

Dr. Salazar has led a multidisciplinary group that performed Phase I and Phase I/II clinical trials in Chile of cancer immunotherapy. From 2005 to 2022, he was Deputy Director of the Institute Millennium of Immunology and Immunotherapy, and is a former President of the Chilean Society of Immunology and a past President of the Latin American Association of Immunology Societies (ALAI). He founded two spin-off companies, Oncobiomed in 2002, dedicated to cellular immunotherapy technology transfer, and Bionex in 2007, dedicated to advising basic scientists in designing R&D applications. Dr. Salazar was Vice President of Research and Development at the University of Chile between 2014 and 2022 and Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation from March to September 2022.

Dr Sarah Wheeler

Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Dr. Sarah Wheeler is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pathology, Medical Director of Clinical Chemistry at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Medical Director of the Automated Testing Laboratory at UPMC Mercy Hospital, and Associate Medical Director of Clinical Immunopathology at UPMC.

Her research interests include infectious disease serology screening assays (SARS CoV2, HIV, syphilis, lyme, hepatitis), rapid point of care diagnostics, effects of viral infections on autoimmunity, and appropriate serology testing in children.

Dr. Wheeler completed her doctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh in cellular and molecular pathology focusing on head and neck cancer. She completed a combined basic research and clinical post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh in metastatic breast cancer and clinical chemistry respectively. Since her post-doctoral fellowship Dr. Wheeler has worked in both industry and academic medical centers, combining research and clinical duties.