Rafi Ahmed
PhD
The long-term goal of Dr. Ahmed's research is to understand the mechanisms of B and T cell immunological memory and to use this information to develop new vaccines for the prevention and treatment of disease.
Specialty
Dr. Ahmed is a world-renowned immunologist whose work has been highly influential in shaping our current understanding of memory T cell differentiation and anti-viral T and B cell immunity.
Titles and Roles
- Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
- Emory University School of Medicine
- Vaccine Center Director
- Emory Vaccine Center
- Co-Leader, Cancer Immunology Research Program
- Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
- Investigator
- Emory Center for AIDS Research
- Research Program
- Cancer Immunology
Biography
Rafi Ahmed, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of Emory University School of Medicine. A member of the National Academy of Science, Dr. Ahmed is a world-renowned immunologist whose work during the past decade has been highly influential in shaping our current understanding of memory T cell differentiation and anti-viral T and B cell immunity.
Dr. Ahmed is co-leader of the Cancer Immunology research program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and a Fellow of the Academy of Immuno-Oncology.
>>View video series of Dr. Ahmed discussing his research in immunology.
Research
The long-term goal of Dr. Ahmed's research is to understand the mechanisms of B and T cell immunological memory and to use this information to develop new vaccines for the prevention and treatment of disease. The Ahmed laboratory uses highly sophisticated cellular and molecular techniques to study antigen-specific immunological memory in murine, primate, and human systems. A major area of focus is identifying cellular molecules that regulate the generation and maintenance of CD8 and CD4 T cell and humoral immunity. One such molecule is mTOR that we recently identified as a major regulator of memory CD8 T cell differentiation.
Another approach of the Ahmed laboratory is to understanding humoral memory development and maintenance. We have co-developed a novel method for rapidly generating human monoclonal antibodies after vaccination and have shown that broadly cross-reactive antibodies that recognize multiple influenza viruses can be generated after influenza vaccination in humans. These studies and those currently on going which include understanding the mechanisms that regulate the development of neutralizing antibody give rise to the possibility that a universal influenza vaccine could be developed in the near future.
Publications
Publications Publication Date
Awards
Dr. Ahmed is one of two immunologists to receive the 2017 Robert Koch Award. In 2018, he was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He received the Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences from the Association of American Medical Colleges in 2019.
Dr. Ahmed received the 2014 Emory 1% Award which recognizes Emory faculty whose National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposals have been ranked in the top 1% by NIH reviewers. He has been named multiple times to the MilliPub Club, which recognizes current Emory faculty who have published one or more individual papers throughout their careers that have garnered more than 1,000 citations.