Rafi Ahmed, PhD
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Research Program
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Phone Number
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Email Address
Biography
Rafi Ahmed, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at 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 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and a fellow of the Academy of Immuno-Oncology.
Titles & Roles
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Professor, Department of Microbiology and ImmunologyEmory University School of Medicine
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Vaccine Center DirectorEmory Vaccine Center
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Co-Leader, Cancer Immunology Research ProgramWinship Cancer Institute of Emory University
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InvestigatorEmory Center for AIDS Research
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 they 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. They 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 ongoing, 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.
Grants
| Grant Number | Title |
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| 2U19AI057266-21 | Vaccine and Infection Induced Immunity in the Young and Aged |
| 5R01AI186330-02 | T Cell Memory to Viruses |
| 5U01AI150747-05 | DYNAMICS AND EVOLUTION OF IMMUNE RESPONSES TO INFLUENZA VIRUSES |
| 5U19AI057266-22 | CORE A: ADMINISTRATIVE CORE |
| 5U19AI057266-22 | CORE B: GENOMICS CORE |
| 5U19AI057266-22 | CORE C: CLINICAL AND BIOSTATISTICS CORE |
| 5U19AI057266-22 | PROJECT 1: IMMUNE MEMORY |
| 5U19AI057266-22 | PROJECT 2: INNATE IMMUNITY |
| 5U19AI057266-22 | Vaccine and Infection Induced Immunity in the Young and Aged |
Publications
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.