The American Society for Reproductive Immunology

The American Society for

Reproductive Immunology

President (2018-2020)

Gil Mor, MD, PhD

Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Gil Mor is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Yale University School of Medicine. In his research he examines topics related to the immunology of pregnancy and the role of inflammation in cancer formation and progression. At the present time he is the Division Director of the Reproductive Science Division at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He directs the Reproductive Immunology Unit and the Translational Research Program “Discovery To Cure” at Yale University. Dr. Mor has been the Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology since September 2009. Dr. Mor is funded by grants from National Institute of Child Health Development (NICHD), National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and as well as several pharmaceutical companies and is widely published in the area of immunology and reproduction with more than 250 publications and is the editor of a three books on “Immunology of pregnancy” and “Apoptosis and Cancer”. Dr. Mor is recipient of several national and international prizes, including the J. Christian Herr Award- and the AJRI Award from the Society for Reproductive Immunology. Dr. Mor is member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, American Association of Immunologist and the American Society of Reproductive Immunology. He is also Honorary member of several scientific societies in Asia, South America and Europe. More about Dr. Mor

Secretary (2017-2020)

Chandrakant Tayade, DVM, PhD

Queen’s University

tayadec@queensu.ca

Dr. Tayade’s research interests lie in interlinking mucosal, innate and adoptive immune responses to provide improved understanding of the pathophysiology of endometriosis. His long-term goal is to explore therapeutic manipulation of uterine immune cells in the context of angiogenesis during pregnancy or in pathological conditions such as endometriosis. More about Dr. Tayade

Vice President (2018-2020)

DAJIN Li, MD, PhD

Fudan University

djli@shmu.edu.cn

Dr. Li is the vice president of Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, in charge of the teaching and research. He is the director of the Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Fudan University. He got his doctor＇s degree of reproductive immunology, obstetrics and gynecology in Shanghai Medical School in 1992. He is engaged in the research of reproductive immunology, clinical work and teaching on reproductive medicine. He took charge of the NSFC projects for eight times; He took charge of the key project of NSFC in 2007, the National Major Basic Research (973) project in 2006. He has published over 100 SCI papers in recent years; He won fifteen prizes of Science and Technology Progress Award of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Government and State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He is the chief editor of more than 10 Academic Journals. More about Dr. Li

Treasurer (2017-2020)

Karen Racicot, PhD

Michigan State University

racicoka@msu.edu

Dr. Racicot received a BS from the University of Florida and a PhD from The Pennsylvania State University, majoring in Animal Science with a focus on Reproductive Biology and Immunology. Afterwards, she completed post-doctoral training in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale School of Medicine, primarily working with murine models of polymicrobial infections during pregnancy in laboratory of Dr. Gil Mor. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology within the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. Her research program has two major themes: Understanding how the placenta responds to environmental factors and how this response affects fetal immune development. Understanding how viral infection of the cervix affects cervical competency and pregnancy outcomes. More about Dr. Racicot

President Elect (2018-2020)

Irina Burd, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins University iburd@jhmi.edu

Dr. Burd, is an Associate Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University. She was recruited to the Johns Hopkins University to spearhead the development of the field of Fetal Medicine and Fetal Neurology, and is the founder and Director of the Johns Hopkins Integrated Research Center for Fetal Medicine and Director of Perinatal Research. The trans-disciplinary approach of the Center brings together physicians, scientists and physician-scientists across the Johns Hopkins University. Monthly seminars unite faculty, fellows and graduate students of the IRCFM and provide an opportunity to interact with nationally and internationally recognized faculty from US and abroad. Research within the Center includes work on basic science (mouse model studies), translational (biomarker discovery research) and clinical (randomized clinical studies) projects and is a perfect environment for training of scholars/fellows. Dr. Burd’s research focuses primarily on how maternal infection and inflammation affect pregnancy and fetal development. Since 2014, Dr. Burd is a member of NICHD Obstetrics and Maternal Fetal Medicine Subcommittee, and from 2016 its Chair. More about Dr. Burd

Immediate Past President (2016-2018)

Nazeeh Hanna, MD

Winthrop University Hospital

State University of New York at Stony Brook

NHanna@nyuwinthrop.org

Dr. Hanna is a Professor of Pediatrics, State University of New York at Stony Brook and the Chief of Neonatology at Winthrop University Hospital since 2007. Dr. Hanna received his Neonatal fellowship training at Brown University. His research track is focused in the area of immune tolerance in human placenta and the potential impact of maternal exposure to environmental toxicants on preterm births. Dr. Hanna research interests were funded by several national agencies including NIH, NICHD, American Lung Association, March of Dimes and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. He is currently the director of Women and Children Research Center at Winthrop University Hospital.

More about Dr. Hanna

Council Members

Vikki Abrahams, PhD (2018-2021)

Yale University School of Medicine vikki.abrahams@yale.edu

Dr. Vikki Abrahams received her B.Sc. (hons) in Immunology in 1996, and was awarded a Ph.D. in Immunology in 2000, both from University College London. She continued her studies as a postdoctoral associate at Dartmouth Medical School and then at Yale University in the field of Reproductive Immunology. In 2004 she joined the faculty in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University. Since 2006 she has also been an Honorary Lecturer in the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Center at The University of Manchester, UK. More about Dr. Abrahams

David Aronoff, MD (2017-2020)

Vanderbilt University Medical Center d.aronoff@vanderbilt.edu

The overarching goal of the Aronoff lab is to improve human health through discovery, with a primary interest on maternal-child wellness. The Aronoff lab studies reproductive immunology with a focus on bacterial infections that complicate pregnancy. These infections include perinatal streptococcal infections and postpartum clostridial infections. Our major interest is revealing root molecular mechanisms whereby bacterial pathogens evade innate immunity within the female reproductive tract. We also study the impact of metabolic stressors such as obesity and diabetes on reproductive immunology and placental function. Our work with toxigenic clostridia has extended to non-reproductive tract infections, such as colitis caused by Clostridium diffficile. Members of our lab engage in a range of research approaches, from purely bench science to translational science to purely clinical research. We value interdisciplinary team science. More about Dr. Aronoff

Mei-Rong Du, PhD (2018-2021)

Fudan University

mrdu@fudan.edu.cn

Sylvie Girard, PhD (2019-2022)

University of Montreal sylvie.girard@recherche-ste-justine.qc.ca

Dr. Sylvie Girard completed her Ph.D. in Immunology at the Université de Sherbrooke, working on perinatal inflammatory processes and their impact on brain development in the newborn. She then pursued post-doctoral studies at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and then at Yale University in the United States where she acquired expertise in reproductive immunology. Dr. Girard joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Université de Montréal in 2014 and focuses on inflammatory mechanisms at the materno-fetal interface in both humans and animals and the effects on the development of the newborn. She is now accredited with the Department of microbiology, infectiology and immunology at the Université de Montréal since 2015.

Charles Wira, PhD (2019-2022)

Dartmouth University charles.r.wira@dartmouth.edu

Dr. Wira's research focuses on how female sex hormones influence immunity in the female reproductive tract using animal models and human tissues. Dr. Wira has been funded by NIH for the past 35 yrs, has published approximately 160 research papers, and serves as editor on several scientific journals. He has received numerous awards including a National Institutes of Health Merit Award, which is awarded to approximately 0.1% of scientists by NIH. He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Investigator Award in Reproductive Immunology by the American Society of reproductive Immunology (ASRI). As Principal Investigator of an NIH funded Program Project grants for the past 14 years, he heads a major collaborative effort at Dartmouth Medical School to characterize immune functions in the Fallopian tube, uterus, cervix and vagina and to define the roles of sex hormones in mucosal immune regulation.

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