Leadership

Principal Investigators

Jacques Robert, Ph.D.

• Education: B.S. University of Geneva, Switzerland; Ph.D. University of Geneva, Switzerland; Post-doc Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel , Switzerland
• Lab: Robert Jumping Frog lab
• T32 association: Mentor since 2000, Associate Director 2018-present
• Research Interests:  I’m interested by developmental and evolutionary aspects of immune surveillance, tumor and microbial immunity using the amphibian Xenopus as animal model. My lab has recently unveiled the importance of MHC class I-like restricted innate-like T cells outside mammals, particularly during early development and during immune responses against pox-like ranavirus (Iridoviridae) and mycobacteria. My lab is also interested in long-term effects of water pollutants on immune cell development and on immune homeostasis and antiviral immunity across the lifespan.
• Best Immune cell/favorite factor:  innate-like T cells – a potential T cell forerunner in evolution of immune system
• Fun fact:  I started adventure in science by collecting spiders and other little funny creatures in East Asia for the Natural History Museum of Geneva, following the path of Alfred Wallace, the famous naturalist who authored with Charles Darwin the first paper on evolution through natural selection.
• Beyond the lab: Hiking, playing volley ball, reading books, passionate about opera and classical music.

Tim Mosmann, Ph.D.

• Education: B.S. Rhodes University, South Africa; Ph.D. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Post-doc Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada and Glasgow University, Scotland
• T32 association: Mentor since 2013, Associate Director 2020-present
• Research Interests:  Although I started out as a virologist (herpesviruses) I quickly switched to Immunology, first in the antibody/B cell area, then for most of my career I have focused on T cell responses.  Current interests include T cell responses in atopic dermatitis, and pregnancy.  For the last several years, we have also put a lot of effort into the algorithmic analysis of high-dimensional flow cytometry data.
• Best Immune cell/favorite factor:  All-time favorite - Interleukin 10.  Favorite-of-the-year:  TRIM21, an elegant strategy for intracellular defense.
• Fun fact:  I joined a small start-up company in Palo Alto for nine years in the 1980’s, doing basic immunology research.