International Symposium on Innate Immunity and COVID-19

Welcome!

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the Scientific Symposium on Innate Immunity and COVID-19, which will be held virtually on Friday, December 11, 2020.

There is an urgent need for us to have a better understanding of innate immunity as it relates to the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to future pandemics. We must also ensure that the international scientific community, relevant political and social organizations, as well as the global community have increased awareness of this burgeoning scientific field.

As an attendee, you will hear from leading experts from academic research and nonprofit organizations who will discuss everything from the basics of innate immunity to what lies ahead in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic beyond the lab. You will also hear from internationally renowned researchers who will also discuss current global clinical trials examining whether live, attenuated vaccines might help prevent COVID-19 and other pandemics.

Scientific panel discussions will be interspersed and moderated by Dr. Sri Narasimhan, Deputy Editor of Cell, and the Edge who is on the Board of Directors of the Angiogenesis Foundation, the Advisory Board of MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, and the Chairman of Endeavor Ireland. In addition to our invited speaker presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions throughout the symposium.

We hope to make this virtual symposium an exciting and noteworthy scientific event. We look forward to seeing you in December!

With kind regards,

Michael S. Avidan, MBBCh, FCASA
Head of the Department of Anesthesiology
Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis

Shabaana A. Khader, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular Microbiology
Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis

Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD
Senior Associate Dean for Research in Global Affairs, Associate Vice President for International Partnerships and Innovation, Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine; President of the Global Virus Network

Robert C. Gallo, MD
The Homer & Marth Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Co-Founder and Director, Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; Co-Founder and International Scientific Advisor, Global Virus Network

Moderators

• Dr. Michael S. Avidan, Head of the Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine
• Dr. Shabaana Khader, professor, Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Distinguished Speakers

• Dr. Christine Stabell Benn, Professor in Global Health at the University of Southern Denmark, and Director, the Bandim Health Project, a Global Virus Network Center of Excellence
• Dr. Stefano M. Bertozzi, Dean Emeritus, professor, Health Policy and Management, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
• Dr. Marc Bonten, professor, Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases; Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands
• Dr. Christian Bréchot, Senior Associate Dean for Research in Global Affairs, Associate Vice President for International Partnerships and Innovation, Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine; and President of  the Global Virus Network
• Dr. Konstantin Chumakov, Associate Director for Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Vaccines Research and Review; Adjunct Professor, George Washington University and the University of Maryland;  advisor, World Health Organization (WHO); member of the WHO Polio Research Committee; and Director of the Global Virus Network Center of Excellence at FDA
• Dr. Nigel Curtis, leader of the Infectious Diseases Research Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; professor of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne; Head of Infectious Diseases, the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne 
• The Edge, Board of Directors of the Angiogenesis Foundation, Advisory Board of MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, Chairman of Endeavor Ireland
• Dr. Eleanor Fish, Canada Research Chair in Women’s Health & Immunobiology; senior scientist, Toronto General Research Institute; Associate Chair, International Collaborations & Initiatives; professor, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto
• Dr. Robert C. Gallo, The Homer & Marth Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Co-Founder and Director, Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; Co-Founder and International Scientific Advisor, Global Virus Network
• Dr. Stefan H.E. Kaufmann, Emeritus Director at the Max Planck Institutes for Infection Biology and for Biophysical Chemistry
• Dr. Keith Klugman, Director of Pneumonia, Global Health Division, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Dr. Kwadwo Koram, adjunct lecturer in Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Ghana; Deputy Director, West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens
• Dr. Shyam Kottilil, Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of Clinical Care and Research, Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; senior advisor member, Global Virus Network
• Dr. William Li, Chief Executive Officer, President, Medical Director, and Co-founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation
• Jaykumar Menon, Chair and Co-founder of Open Source Pharma Foundation; senior fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute; visiting scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health; research fellow at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law
• Dr. Sri Narasimhan, Deputy Editor, Cell

• Dr. Mihai Netea, Head of the Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Nijmegen University Nijmegen Medical Center, and member of the GVN SARS-CoV-2 Task Force
• Dr. Chandrasekaran Padmapriyadarsini, Director, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in Chennai

• Dr. Izukanji Sikazwe, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia
• Dr. Annie Sparrow, Special Advisor to the Director-General, World Health Organisation, Asst/Prof Population Health Science & Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

Note: speakers and topics are subject to change.