The American Association of Immunologists is proud to announce its 2026 election results, in which voting members of the association selected the officers and committee leaders who will guide the organization in the years ahead. Hailing from some of the nation’s foremost academic and research institutions, the newly elected leaders will continue AAI’s commitments to the public understanding of immunology, robust opportunities for the immunology community, a well-funded research enterprise, and a modernized organizational structure. Their terms of office begin July 1 of this year.
The newly elected leaders are:
President 2026–2027
Avery August, PhD, AAI ’99
Professor of Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology—Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine; Deputy Provost—Cornell University
Vice President 2026–2027
Susan M. Kaech, PhD, AAI ’04
Executive Vice President and Director, Immunology—Allen Institute
Councilor 2026–2030
Shane Crotty, PhD, AAI ’04
Professor & Chief Scientific Officer, La Jolla Institute for Immunology; Professor, University of California San Diego School of Medicine
Awards Committee 2026–2029
Kate A. Fitzgerald, PhD, AAI ’06
Vice Provost for Basic Science Research, Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Chief, Division of Innate Immunity—Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Finance Committee 2026-2029
Alexander Y. Rudensky, PhD, AAI ’94
Chair and Member, Immunology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute; Director, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Nominating Committee 2026-2027
Gretchen Diehl, PhD, AAI ’14– elected Chair
Member, Immunology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute; Catherine and Frederick R. Adler Chair for Junior Faculty—Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Robert J. Binder, PhD, AAI ’02
Professor of Immunology—University of Pittsburgh
Laurie Harrington, PhD, AAI ’07
Professor, Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology—University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Medicine
Julie M. Jameson, PhD, AAI ’06
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, San Marcos
Mark H. Kaplan, PhD, AAI ’98
Chair, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Director of Basic Science, Brown Center for Immunotherapy—Indiana University School of Medicine
Program Committee 2026–2029
Beth A. Tamburini, PhD, AAI ’13
Associate Professor of Medicine-GI/Hepatology & Immunology and Microbiology; Immunology Graduate Program Co-Director— University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Julie Zikherman, MD, AAI ’10
Professor, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine—University of California, San Francisco
Publications Committee 2026–2030
Amanda Mercedes Jamieson, PhD, AAI ’15
Esther Elizabeth Brintzenhoff Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Pathobiology Graduate Program Co-Director—Brown University
