Our Staff Members
Vipin Kumar , Ph.D.
Dr. Kumar is studying immune response in mice that have the capability of spontaneously recovering from EAE, an MS-like disease, and for clues to harness the natural process of immune regulation.
Eli Sercarz, Ph.D.
Dr. Sercarz discovered that EAE, an MS-like disease in mice, is brought on by a specific group of immune cells, or T cells that drive the disease. By investigating these "driver" immune cells, Dr. Sercarz had hoped to find the reason why these specific cells induce inflammation and have such a detrimental effect on the brain and spinal cord.
Sadly, Dr. Sercarz passed away in November of 2009. Click here to view his memorial page on the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies web site.
Valeria Judkowski, Ph.D.
The main focus of my research is the discovery of novel immunological modulators and the understanding of their mechanisms in the regulation of the immune response. In the T cell area, our work includes the identification of novel antigens involved in the activation of autoimmune T cells and the identification of T cell epitopes from human pathogens that could improve diagnostics and vaccine design.
Yang Dai, Ph.D.
Dr. Dai received his Ph.D. from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada focusing on immunology. He served as a Research Fellow at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunlogy, San Diego from 2001-2002, and completed his postdoctoral training within TPIMS' Division of Immune Regulation in 2005. Dr. Dai is an Assistant Member at MSNRI.
Clemencia Pinilla, Ph.D.
Dr. Pinilla is the head of the Institute's Immunochemistry Department and one of the inventors of the library method known as positional scanning.
Board of Trustees
Robin Offord, Ph.D. | Chair
Weaver Gaines
Paul J. "Pete" Hegener
Robert S. Hodges, Ph.D.
Richard A. Houghten, Ph.D.
N. Jeff Oman, C.P.A.
Ken Pruitt
Andrea Resnick
Daniel R. Richey
Mark E. Robitaille
Patricia S. Wu, MBChB, FRCP(Edin), FACE
Officers
Richard A. Houghten, Ph.D
President & CEO
Mike Augustine, CPA, CMA, MBA
Vice President & C.F.O.
Karen L. Douthitt, SPHR
Vice President & Corporate Secretary