Keynote talk + Q&A: 10AM PST / 1PM EST / 6PM GMT

Revisit the talk and Q&A using the link above, and/or check out the video and bios below.

About the Speaker:
Keke Fairfax, PhD

Twitter: @LabFairfax

Keke Fairfax received her AB from the University of Chicago in 2003 and her PhD from Yale in Microbial Pathogenesis in 2009. Her dissertation work focused on identifying novel fatty acid binding proteins in the human hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. She completed her post-doctoral training in Schistosoma mansoni immuno-parasitology with Edward Pearce and Gwendalyn Randolph in 2014. Dr. Fairfax began her independent laboratory at Purdue University in 2014 and moved to the University of Utah in 2018. The Fairfax laboratory at the University of Utah broadly focuses on using the helminth parasite Schistosoma mansoni as a tool to understand both, the relative contributions of schistosome antigen vs IL-4 in inducing host immuno-modulation, and the complex interplay between lymphoid and stromal cells necessary to develop an optimal T and B cell memory response. Under this umbrella we currently have three main projects: 1) Understanding the immunological implications of maternal schistosomiasis; 2) Dissecting the role of IL-4 in shaping the cellular environment of peripheral lymph nodes during homeostasis and antigenic challenge; 3) Delineating the mechanistic role of antigen driven immunological re-programing in helminth-induced protection from metabolic diseases.