Professor Dr. Akiko Iwasaki

Biography

Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D. is the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at mucosal surfaces, which are critical sites for the entry of infectious agents. She received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Toronto and completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health before joining Yale's faculty in 2000. In 2014, she became an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Iwasaki's work has significant implications for the development of vaccines and therapeutics for both acute and chronic viral diseases, and she has explored immune responses to a variety of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Her contributions to science have been recognized with numerous awards, such as the Keio Medical Science Prize (2025) and inclusion in the TIME 100 list of influential people (2024). She has been a leading voice in addressing COVID-19 and advocating for underrepresented minorities in science and medicine.

Research Interests

Awards