IMMUNOLOGY2025™ Conference Recordings-I Think You Should Leave: Regulating T Cell Trafficking and Maintenance

Video Transcription

Video Summary

At Immunology 2025 in Honolulu, AAI President Steve Jameson welcomed attendees and emphasized the value of the annual meeting as a chance to celebrate discovery, collaboration, and the future of immunology. He highlighted AAI’s year-round advocacy amid major challenges to science and research funding, including congressional briefings on Long COVID, media engagement, public statements, and efforts to keep immunology visible in policy and public discourse. He also previewed meeting themes such as early-career scientist presentations, broad scientific sessions spanning neuroimmune interactions, microbiome, aging, cancer, and metabolism, sustainability initiatives, and a new computational immunology course focused on big data and bioinformatics.<br /><br />Jameson then presented the 2025 AAI Lifetime Achievement Award to Leslie J. Berg, honoring her landmark contributions to T cell signaling and development, her leadership roles within AAI, and her extensive service to the broader scientific community. Berg thanked colleagues, students, and AAI for the recognition.<br /><br />He also introduced the 2025 Class of Distinguished Fellows of AAI, celebrating 19 immunologists for their scientific impact and service.<br /><br />AAI CEO Loretta Doan followed with a report on AAI’s policy, advocacy, communications, and governance work. She described expanded Capitol Hill engagement, grassroots letter-writing campaigns, development of consensus position statements, a new media relations strategy, the AAI News and Views platform, an upcoming e-newsletter, and continued efforts to support members during an uncertain funding and policy environment.<br /><br />The program concluded with Jameson’s presidential address, introduced by John Hardy, who praised Jameson’s career and leadership. Jameson traced his research journey from naïve T cell homeostasis to memory T cell biology and trafficking, describing major findings on self-peptide MHC interactions, virtual memory cells, cytokine control, and the KLF2/S1P1 trafficking pathway. He ended by thanking collaborators, trainees, and family, and invited attendees to enjoy the meeting and reception.

Keywords

Immunology 2025

AAI President Steve Jameson

Leslie J. Berg

T cell signaling

Distinguished Fellows of AAI

science advocacy

research funding

Long COVID

computational immunology

bioinformatics

memory T cell biology