28th Woods Hole Immunoparasitology (WHIP) Meeting

Dr. P'ng Loke completed his Ph.D. research at the University of Edinburgh on IL-4 activated macrophages responding to Brugia malayi filarial parasites in 2001. He then did postdoctoral research on costimulatory molecules at University of California-Berkeley and studied macrophage responses to different parasites at University of California-San Francisco. In 2009, he joined New York University School of Medicine as an assistant professor and was a tenured associate professor before he joined the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases as a senior investigator in 2020.

Dr. Ting is a William R Kenan Jr. Distinguish Professor of Genetics at UNC-CH. She is also a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Center for Translational Immunology and the Department of Microbiology-Immunology. She earned her B.S. from Illinois State University, her Ph.D. at Northwestern University and carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Southern California and at Duke University. She joined the UNC faculty in 1984 as an Assistant Professor and rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming a full professor in 1993. She was the vice president of AAI (The American Association of Immunologists) from 2019-2020 and the president from 2020-2021. She is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, America Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Academia Sinica.

Dr. Ting has studied the transcriptional master regulator of class II Major Histocompatibility (MHC) genes called CIITA (class II transactivator) for over a decade. Based on the structure of CIITA, Dr. Ting’s lab found a large family of genes that encode similar structural motifs as CIITA. This family was name the NLR and they are important for immune defense against bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and damage-associated molecules. Her lab studies the biological effects that these NLR proteins have in inflammatory, cancer and autoimmune diseases. In addition, her lab also has projects involving the microbiome, neuro-inflammation, an immune activating microparticle delivery system, and mitigators of radiation induced toxicity.

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Dr. John Harty received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1989, studying viral pathogenesis and immunity with Peter Plagemann, Ph.D. and did postdoctoral research studying T cell responses to infection at the University of Washington with Michael Bevan, Ph.D. F.R.S, N.A.S. Dr. Harty then took a faculty position at the University of Iowa in 1994 where he is currently a Professor in the Department of Pathology and is a member of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology and Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Harty holds the Pathology Endowed Chair in Microbial Immunology Research at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine where he has been continuously funded by NIH since 1995 including a NIH MERIT award from 2008-2018. He was appointed as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists in 2024. His research interests, illustrated by over 225 publications, lie in understanding basic mechanisms of innate and T cell immunity to inform vaccine efforts against pathogens, including the global health threats of malaria and influenza.

Message - Truly it is my privilege to organize the 2025 28th WHIP meeting with Tajie Harris. With its focus on promoting our trainees in the sub-discipline of immuno-parasitology, WHIP has inspired me scientifically since I began regular attendance as a postdoc. The community is both welcoming and fun, and has been the impetus for new collaborations and friendships gained through the years. I hope to see you this April. It is shaping up to be another fantastic meeting.

About myself - The Jensen lab uses forward genetic approaches to discover host and parasite determinants of immunological memory responses to Toxoplasma gondii. This work has revealed roles for innate B-1 cells as well as factors that govern naive CD8 T cell IFNg differentiation to the parasite. We have also discovered the parasite's GPI to be critical for immune evasion. Currently, we are in the middle of a large-scale genetic mapping experiment using the Collaborative Cross and mRNA vaccines to find new regulators of immunity to highly virulent strains of T. gondii. I am an Associate Professor and Chair of the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at UC Merced.

To the WHIP community: I am honored to serve as the co-organizer for WHIP this year. The WHIP meeting means a lot to me, and I know how important this meeting is to so many of you. The dedication this community shows year after year to make this conference happen is truly incredible. I have always loved this meeting because of the focus on trainees. I gave my first talk at WHIP in 2005 as a graduate student and have been a regular attendee for the past 23 years! It’s been a pleasure to work with Kirk Jensen planning this year’s meeting. I hope to see y’all at the meeting in April!

About me: Tajie Harris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Virginia. She received her undergraduate degree from Bemidji State University and her PhD from the University of Wisconsin. At UVA, she is the Director of the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG), a group of investigators that is focused on neuroimmunology research. She is also the co-Director of the NIH-funded BIG Training Program (T32) that supports graduate student training in neuroimmunology. Dr. Harris’ research has focused on the immune response to Toxoplasma gondii infection of the brain. Her continues to define how immune cells are recruited to the brain, including how cell death and alarmin release are linked to neuroinflammation. Dr. Harris was named a Pinn Scholar at the University of Virginia in 2021 and a Shannon Mid-career Fellow in 2024. In addition to her roles at UVA, she serves on the Organizing Committee for the Americas School of Neuroimmunology and has served an Associate Editor for the Journal of Immunology.