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About the Panelists
Avery August, PhD
Twitter: @averyxaugust
Avery August is Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Professor of Immunology, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, and a Presidential Advisor on Diversity and Equity at Cornell University. He received a BS in Medical Technology from California State University at Los Angeles, a PhD in Immunology from Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Rockefeller University as a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow. After a brief stint in industry at the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute as a Scientist in Drug Discovery, he moved to The Pennsylvania State University, where he was Distinguished Professor, prior to moving to Cornell as Chair of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. He assumed his current position as Vice Provost in 2018. His research focuses on understanding the immunological basis for the balance of inflammation and pathology.
Layal Liverpool, PhD
Twitter: @layallivs
Layal Liverpool is a science journalist with expertise in virology and immunology. Her writing has appeared in New Scientist, Wired and the Guardian. Currently, she is a Trainee Digital Journalist at New Scientist, based in Berlin, Germany. Previously, Layal worked as a researcher at University College London and the University of Oxford in the UK. Her PhD research focused on investigating how invading viruses are detected by the body’s immune system.
Yaw Bediako, PhD
Twitter: @YawBediako_
Yaw is a Research Fellow and Head of Advancement at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens at the University of Ghana. He is an immunologist with broad interest in investigating immune function among African populations in order to better address immunopathology associated with infectious and non-infectious diseases among these populations. Following the completion of a PhD at Northwestern University in Chicago, Yaw completed post-doctoral fellowships at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme in Kenya and at the Francis Crick Institute in London, which were focused on understanding the immunological mechanisms by which immunity to Malaria is naturally acquired and maintained. He is currently expanding this work in his own research group at WACCBIP.
Yaw’s research group is currently working on projects that include: Exploring the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of naturally acquired immunity to malaria; Identifying immune predictors of HPV-associated cervical cancer progression in the context of HIV infection; Investigating the mechanisms of cellular and humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection among African populations. He is also currently a Crick African Network fellow, a member of the eLife Early Career Advisory Group, an Affiliate member of the African Academy of Sciences, and Lead for the African Science Initiative, an online networking platform for young African scientists.
Caleph B. Wilson, PhD
Twitter: @HeyDrWilson
Dr. Caleph B. Wilson is an immunologist and currently an industry field application scientist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Alcorn State University, and earned his Ph.D. in Pathobiology from The Pennsylvania State University where he studied innate immunity. His postdoctoral training was in cellular immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Beyond his lab work, Dr. Wilson has been a science policy fellow, and held leadership posts in various student and postdoctoral organizations.
Bianca Baker, PhD
Bianca Baker received her bachelors in Microbiology and her doctorate in Immunology from Virginia Tech. Currently, she is the Associate Director, Medical and Clinical Affairs for Dompe Pharmaceuticals. She has over 5 years of pharmaceutical industry experience with an extensive background in Medical Affairs across various therapeutic areas including Immunology, Ophthalmology/Optometry, Allergy, and Dermatology. Bianca was recently selected as a 2020 Ophthalmic World Leaders Fellow, a program that recognizes emerging leaders with a high potential to make an impact in Ophthalmology for year-long mentorship and professional development. She resides with her family in Suffolk, VA.
