AAI Career Awards honor individuals for outstanding research and career achievements.
Monday, May 10, 2021 10:30 am – 1:00 pm EDT
AAI Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation
Presented prior to Dr. Boss's President’s Address
Chair:
- Jeremy M. Boss, Emory Univ. Sch. of Med., AAI President (2019–2020)
Award Recipient:

Marc K. Jenkins
Univ. of Minnesota Ctr. for Immunology
Recognizes a member for a career of extraordinary scientific achievement and exceptional leadership and service to AAI
Saturday, May 15, 2021 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT
AAI Distinguished Service Award Presentation
Presented at the Business Meeting
Award Recipient:

Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker
Univ. of Toronto, and Sunnybrook Res. Inst., Canada
For outstanding service to AAI and the immunology community as director of the AAI Introductory Course in Immunology, 2014–2019
Recognizes a member for outstanding service to the AAI community
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 1:45 pm – 2:45 pm EDT
AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award Presentation and Lecture
Generously supported by BD Biosciences
Chair:
- Jeremy M. Boss, Emory Univ. Sch. of Med., AAI President (2019–2020)
Award Recipient:

Erika L. Pearce
Max Planck Inst. of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Germany; Bloomberg-Kimmel Inst. for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins Univ. (as of January 1, 2021)
Metabolic regulation of T cell function
Recognizes an early-career investigator who has made outstanding contributions to the field of immunology
Friday, May 14, 2021 10:00 am – 11:00 am EDT
AAI-BioLegend Herzenberg Award Presentation and Lecture
Generously supported by BioLegend
Chair:
- Jeremy M. Boss, Emory Univ. Sch. of Med., AAI President (2019–2020)
Award Recipient:

Susan K. Pierce
NIAID, NIH
Regulators and influencers of B cell affinity discrimination
Recognizes an individual who has made exemplary research contributions to the field of B cell biology
Thursday, May 13, 2021 1:45 pm – 2:45 pm EDT
AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award Presentation and Lecture
Generously supported by Thermo Fisher Scientific
Chair:
- Jeremy M. Boss, Emory Univ. Sch. of Med., AAI President (2019–2020)
Award Recipient:

Alexander Y. Rudensky
HHMI, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Ctr., Rockefeller Univ. and Weill Cornell Med.
The virtue of restraint in adaptive immunity
Recognizes a mid-career scientist for outstanding research contributions to the field of immunology
Thursday, May 13, 2021 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT
AAI Excellence in Mentoring Award Presentation
Presented prior to Dr. Boss's President’s Symposium
Chair:
- Jeremy M. Boss, Emory Univ. Sch. of Med., AAI President (2019–2020)
Award Recipient:

Jeffrey A. Bluestone
Univ. of California, San Francisco, and Sonoma Biotherapeutics
Recognizes a member for exemplary career contributions to a future generation of scientists
Saturday, May 15, 2021 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
AAI-Steinman Award for Human Immunology Research Presentation and Lecture
Chair:
- Jeremy M. Boss, Emory Univ. Sch. of Med., AAI President (2019–2020)
Award Recipient:

Michael J. Lenardo
NIAID, NIH
Identification of novel gene defects leads to precision therapies for congenital immune diseases
Recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the understanding of immune processes underlying human disease pathogenesis, prevention, and therapies