JoAnne L. Flynn, PhD
JoAnne L. Flynn, PhD
Distinguished Professor and Chair
Health Sciences Endowed Chair of Microbiology
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Center for Vaccine Research
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Talk Title: “Using Imaging to Dissect Tuberculosis Pathogenesis and Protection”
Dr. Flynn developed non-human primate models of tuberculosis 25 years ago and incorporated PET CT imaging into her studies in 2008. Imaging has provided a critical window into the infection trajectory and pathogenesis of tuberculosis, highlighting key early and late events in M. tuberculosis infection. Using serial PET CT imaging, barcoded strains of M. tuberculosis, and cutting edge immunologic techniques, she studied how drugs work against the disease and the mechanisms of protection against infection and disease.
JoAnne Flynn is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, from the University of California at Davis and a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Flynn’s first post-doc was with Dr. Magdalene So at the Scripps Clinic Research Institute and then a Howard Hughes Research Associate with Dr. Barry Bloom at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she began her studies in tuberculosis. She served as a Councilor for the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and as President in 2018. Dr. Flynn is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiologists and a Distinguished Fellow of AAI. Dr. Flynn won the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Distinguished Mentor Award in 2018 and Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in 2019. She serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIH NIAID and was previously a Section Editor at PLoS Pathogens and an Editor at Infection and Immunity and The Journal of Immunology. Her research in tuberculosis is focused on immunology, host-pathogen interactions, vaccines, and drugs, and she has developed and used non-human primate models for TB research for 25 years. Dr. Flynn’s research uses cutting-edge tools and technologies, including PET CT imaging, to investigate the complexities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, with a particular focus on lung and lymph node granulomas, vaccines and treatments.
- Cadena AM, Hopkins FF, Maiello P, Carey AF, Wong EA, Martin CJ, Gideon HP, DiFazio RM, Andersen P, Lin PL, Fortune SM, Flynn JL. Concurrent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis confers robust protection against secondary infection in macaques. PLoS Pathog. 2018 Oct 12;14(10):e1007305. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007305. eCollection 2018 Oct. PMID: 30312351 PMCID: PMC6200282
- Darrah PA, Zeppa JJ, Maiello P, Hackney JA, Wadsworth MH, Hughes TK, Pokkali S, Swanson PA, Grant NL, Rodgers MA, Kamath M, Causgrove CM, Laddy DJ, Bonavia A, Casimiro D, Lin PL, Klein E, White AG, Scanga CA, Shalek AK, Roederer M*, Flynn JL*, Seder RA*. Prevention of tuberculosis in nonhuman primates following intravenous BCG immunization. Nature, 2020. Jan;577(7788):95-102. Epub 2020 Jan 1. PMID: 31894150. PMCID: PMC7015856. *co-senior authors (media: New York Times, National NPR, others)
- Gideon HP*, Hughes TK*, Tzouanas CN*, Wadsworth MH, Tu AA, Gierahn TM, Peters JM, Hopkins FF, Wei J-R, Kummerlowe C, Grant NL, Nargan K, Phuah JY, Borish HJ, Maiello P, White AG, Winchell CG, Nyquist SK, Ganchua SKC, Myers A, Patel KV, Ameel CL, Cochran CT, Ibrahim S, Tomko JA, Frye LJ, Rosenberg JM, Shih A, Chao M, Klein E, Scanga CA, Ordovas-Montanes J, Berger B, Mattila JT, Madansein R, Love JC, Lin PL, Leslie A, Behar SM, Bryson B, Flynn JL#, Fortune SM#, Shalek AK#. Multimodal profiling of lung granulomas in macaques reveals cellular correlates of tuberculosis control. Immunity 2022 May 10;55(5):827-846.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.04.004. Epub 2022 Apr 27. PMID: 35483355. *co-first authors; # co-senior authors
- Bromley JD*, Ganchua SKC*, Nyquist SK, Maiello P, Chao M, Borish HJ, Rodgers M, Tomko J, Kracinovsky K, Mugahid D, Nguyen S, Wang QD, Rosenberg JM, Klein EC, Gideon HP, Floyd-O’Sullivan R, Berger B, Scanga CA, Lin PL, Fortune SM, Shalek AK, Flynn JL. CD4+ T cells re-wire granuloma cellularity and regulatory networks to promote immunomodulation following Mtb reinfection. Immunity. 2024 Oct 8;57(10):2380-2398.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.08.002. Epub 2024 Aug 29. PMID: 39214090; PMCID: PMC11466276.(*co-first authors)
- Simonson AW*, Zeppa JJ*, Bucsan AN*, Chao MC, Pokkali S, Hopkins F, Chase MR, Vickers AJ, Sutton MS, Winchell CG, Myers AJ, Ameel CL, Kelly RJ, Krouse B, Hood LE, Li J, Lehman CC, Kamath M, Tomko J, Rodgers MA, Donlan R, Chishti H, Borish HJ, Klein E, Scanga CA, Fortune SM, Lin PL, Maiello P, Roederer M, Darrah PA, Seder RA, Flynn JL. Intravenous BCG-mediated protection against tuberculosis requires CD4+ T cells and CD8α+ lymphocytes. J Exp Med. 2025 Apr 7;222(4):e20241571. doi: 10.1084/jem.20241571. Epub 2025 Feb 6. PMID: 39912921; PMCID: PMC11801270. (*co-first authors)
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, PhD
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, PhD
Malcolm Gillis University Professor
Director, Rice 360: Institute for Global Health
Talk Title: “Real Time and Deep-Learning Enabled High Resolution Imaging for Point-of-Care Detection of Cancer in Low-Resource Settings”
Cancer is the first or second leading cause of premature death in 134 of 183 countries. Global cancer incidence will increase by 50% from 2018 to 2040. Epithelial cancers can be prevented or cured by detecting and treating pre-cancerous lesions and early-stage disease. Yet, less than half diagnosed at a localized stage, despite availability of early detection tests. Individuals with higher socioeconomic status have greater access to early detection. There is an urgent need for low-cost, high-performance tools to improve early cancer detection in low-resource settings. This talk will describe efforts to use deep learning methods to improve the performance of high resolution molecular imaging systems for early cancer detection. I will describe deep learning techniques that can improve resolution, extend depth of field, and enable rapid imaging with a large field of view. Applications include in vivo imaging for early detection as well as ex vivo imaging to provide pathologic diagnosis at the point of care.
Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University. As the Co-Director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, she is dedicated to developing low-cost, high-performance health technologies for low-resource settings. Her pioneering work has provided vulnerable populations with access to life-saving innovations addressing diseases such as cervical and oral cancer, premature birth, and malaria. Dr. Richards-Kortum’s research has led to the development of 40 patents and over 315 refereed research papers. She collaborates with institutions worldwide, including the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Jin L, Tang Y, Wu Y, Coole JB, Tan MT, Zhao X, Badaoui H, Robinson JT, Williams MD, Gillenwater AM, Richards-Kortum RR, Veeraraghavan A. Deep learning extended depth-of-field microscope for fast and slide-free histology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Dec 29;117(52):33051-33060. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2013571117. Epub 2020 Dec 14. PMID: 33318169; PMCID: PMC7776814.
- Hunt B, Fregnani JHTG, Brenes D, Schwarz RA, Salcedo MP, Possati-Resende JC, Antoniazzi M, de Oliveira Fonseca B, Santana IVV, de Macêdo Matsushita G, Castle PE, Schmeler KM, Richards-Kortum R. Cervical lesion assessment using real-time microendoscopy image analysis in Brazil: The CLARA study. Int J Cancer. 2021 Jul 15;149(2):431-441. doi: 10.1002/ijc.33543. Epub 2021 Apr 3. PMID: 33811763; PMCID: PMC8815862.
- Jin L, Tang Y, Coole JB, Tan MT, Zhao X, Badaoui H, Robinson JT, Williams MD, Vigneswaran N, Gillenwater AM, Richards-Kortum RR, Veeraraghavan A. DeepDOF-SE: affordable deep-learning microscopy platform for slide-free histology. Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 5;15(1):2935. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47065-2. PMID: 38580633; PMCID: PMC10997797.
- Brenes D, Kortum A, Coole J, Carns J, Schwarz R, Vohra I, Richards-Kortum R, Liu Y, Cai Z, Sigel K, Anandasabapathy S, Gaisa M, Chiao E. Deployment and assessment of a deep learning model for real-time detection of anal precancer with high frame rate high-resolution microendoscopy. Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 14;13(1):22267. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-49197-9. PMID: 38097594; PMCID: PMC10721617.
- Tan MC, Li Z, Patel KK, Zhang F, Yu X, Wang X, Rosen DG, Dawsey SM, Xue L, Hur C, Schwarz RA, Vohra I, Tang Y, Wu M, Wang T, Carns J, Xu H, Richards-Kortum RR, Wang G, Anandasabapathy SA. High-Resolution Microendoscope Improves Esophageal Cancer Screening and Surveillance: Implications for Underserved Global Settings Based on an International Randomized Controlled Trial. Gastroenterology. 2024 Oct 29:S0016-5085 (24)05643-9. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2024.10.1025. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39477026.
Markus Schwaiger, MD
Markus Schwaiger, MD
Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Medicine, Technical University of Munich
President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Talk Title: “Molecular Imaging: From Scan to Biomarker”
Invention of x-rays led to in-vivo visualization of anatomic details with great impact on diagnosis and treatment of disease. The addition of physiologic and biochemical information delivered by nuclear and magnetic resonance technologies provided functional and metabolic tissue characterization for the in-vivo understanding of disease processes. Molecular imaging linked visualization of cellular protein expression with pathomechanisms of disease. The combination of the various imaging approaches with therapeutic interventions has become a hallmark of precision medicine. It is expected that molecular imaging targets will serve as additional markers of early disease manifestation supporting preventive measures and curative interventions in oncology. The talk will focus on the technical and medical progress in characterizing cardiovascular and oncological diseases by multimodal imaging approaches.
Markus Schwaiger, MD, is Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Medicine. He received his medical training at the Medical School of the Free University of Berlin and completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Cincinnati followed by several fellowships in nuclear medicine and cardiology at UCLA School of Medicine. After his tenure as Director of Nuclear Cardiology at the University of Michigan from 1987-1993, he was Director of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the university hospital TUM Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich until 2017. Furthermore, Markus Schwaiger acted as Dean of the School of Medicine at the Technical University of Munich from 2002-2006 and 2007-2010. From 2026-2021 he was Medical Director and CEO of the university hospital TUM Klinikum rechts der Isar. Since 2023 he has been President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
With his research, Markus Schwaiger has contributed significantly to the establishment of positron emission tomography (PET) as a standard procedure for the detection of myocardial viability. He served as coordinator of a large center grant (DFG), which addressed the role of imaging in selecting and monitoring of targeted cancer therapy in preclinical models. He was involved in European Research consortia addressing endoscopic PET imaging as well as PET inserts for combined MR/PET instrumentation, and he was awarded an advanced grant award of the European Research Council (ERC).
Markus Schwaiger received numerous honors and awards including the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Academy of Molecular Imaging, the Paul C. Aebersold Award of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Federal Cross of Merit of Germany, the Heinz Maier Leibnitz Medal of the Technical University of Munich and the Charles Georg de Hevesy Nuclear Pioneer Award of the SNMMI. He has published more than 850 peer-reviewed publications in international scientific journals and over 100 book chapters.
- Düwel S, Hundshammer C, Gersch M, Feuerecker B, Steiger K, Buck A, Walch A, Haase A, Glaser SJ, Schwaiger M, Schilling F: Imaging of pH in vivo using hyperpolarized 13C-labelled zymonic acid. Nat Commun. 2017;8:15126.
- Weissleder R, Schwaiger MC, Gambhir SS, Hricak H: Imaging approaches to optimize molecular therapies. Sci Transl Med. 2016;8(355):355ps16.
- Vag T, Gerngross C, Herhaus P, Eiber M, Philipp-Abbrederis K, Graner FP, Ettl J, Keller U, Wester HJ, Schwaiger M: First Experience with Chemokine Receptor CXCR4-Targeted PET Imaging of Patients with Solid Cancers. J Nucl Med. 2016;57(5):741-746.
- Eiber M, Nekolla SG, Maurer T, Weirich G, Wester HJ, Schwaiger M: (68)Ga-PSMA PET/MR with multimodality image analysis for primary prostate cancer. Abdom Imaging. 2015;40(6):1769-1771.
- Drzezga A, Souvatzoglou M, Eiber M, Beer AJ, Fürst S, Martinez-Möller A, Nekolla SG, Ziegler SI, Ganter C, Rummeny EJ, Schwaiger M: First clinical experience with integrated whole-body PET/MR: comparison to PET/CT in patients with oncologic diagnoses. J Nucl Med. 2012;53(6):845-855.