Akiko Iwasaki

Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Akiko Iwasaki received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (Canada) in 1998, and her postdoctoral training from the National Institutes of Health (USA) (1998–2000). She joined Yale University (USA) as a faculty member in 2000. Akiko Iwasaki’s research focuses on the mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at the mucosal surfaces. Her laboratory is interested in how innate recognition of viral infections lead to the generation of adaptive immunity, and how adaptive immunity mediates protection against subsequent viral challenge. Her group studies the impact of the environmental factors (temperature and humidity) and host factors (aging, microbiome, stress) on antiviral immune responses. Iwasaki applies insights gained from these studies to design better vaccines and therapeutic approaches to treatment of viral diseases and cancer.