Akiko Iwasaki received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and her postdoctoral training from the National Institutes of Health. She joined Yale University as a faculty in 2000, and currently is an associate professor of Department of Immunobiology and Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology. Akiko Iwasaki’s research focuses on the mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at the mucosal surfaces, including influenza virus and herpes simplex viruses. Her laboratory is interested in how innate recognition of viral infections lead to the generation of adaptive immunity. Specific questions investigated by the laboratory include the contributions of innate signals in the activation of interferon responses by plasmacytoid dendritic cells, activation of tissue dendritic cells for T cell priming, contributions of innate sensing by non-hematopoietic cells in adaptive immunity and the role of autophagy and inflammasome in mounting antiviral defense.

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