Annet Kirabo, DVM, MSc, PhD, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Genetic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, has been appointed director of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Center of Excellence (FCE) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Rachel Bonami, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, will serve as associate director of the Vanderbilt FCE.
The Federation’s Centers of Excellence are a global network of academic researchers that facilitates human immunology research collaboration and training opportunities. The Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology (VCI), within the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation, hosts the Vanderbilt FCE.
“VCI is very proud to continue supporting the FCE,” said VCI Director C. Henrique Serezani, PhD, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases.
“We are excited to offer travel awards to trainees attending (Federation) meetings and workshops,” Serezani said. “Having Drs. Kirabo and Bonami as leaders of the FCE will bring new collaborations to the immunology community at our institution.”
Kirabo, also associate professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, succeeds former center director Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, who is now at the University of Chicago.
Her research is focused on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying immune system activation in response to hypertensive stimuli, including excess dietary salt, sympathetic nerve outflow and oxidative stress.
Bonami is also assistant professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. Her research program aims to shed light on how autoreactive B and T lymphocytes develop and interact with each other to support tissue damage in human autoimmune disease.
