Susan Swain

BIOGRAPHY

EDUCATION:
1968 B.A. (Biology) Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
1974 Ph.D. (Immunology) Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA

SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS:
American Association of Immunologists
International Cytokine Society

FELLOWSHIPS AND HONORS:
1968 Phi Beta Kappa
1968 Magna Cum Laude, B.A.
1972 Sigma Xi
1974-1976 Damon Runyon Fellowship
1981-1986 Established Investigator, American Heart Association
1996-2001 NIH Merit Award
2002 New York State Woman of Distinction
2005-2015 NIH Merit Award
2006 Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science
2010 Lifetime Achievement Award-American Association of Immunology

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Our past research has focused on defining the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which CD4 T cells contribute to immunity. In particular we have 1) Defined, generated and determined the function of T cell subsets at the effector stage; 2) Studied the requirements for the generation of long-live memory CD4 T cells and their role in protection against influenza infection and 3) Analyzed the defects that develop in T cell function with aging and the causes of those defects.
Our top priorities at this time are to discover new basic cellular and molecular mechanisms that are used by memory CD4 T cells to provide effective immunity to infectious diseases and to better define the age-associated defects in CD4 T cells that contribute to poor immunity of the aged and to discover strategies to overcome those defects.