The Allen Institute today announced the hiring of Dr. Ananda Goldrath as Executive Vice President of the Allen Institute for Immunology. Dr. Goldrath comes to the Institute from the University of California, San Diego where she most recently served as Tata Chancellor’s Professor of Molecular Biology.

“Emerging research, technology, and tools – some pioneered at the Allen Institute – are opening new windows into the immune system,” said President & CEO Rui Costa. “With Dr. Goldrath’s expertise and leadership, we have an opportunity to catalyze discoveries that move the field of immunology forward and provide a foundation for understanding human health and disease.”

Dr. Goldrath is a leading expert in immune memory. This is the immune system’s ability to “remember” an infection by a particular virus or bacteria, and then mount a robust immune response when it encounters that same pathogen in the future to prevent reinfection. Immune memory is the basis by which vaccines provide protection from dangerous infections.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Allen Institute for Immunology’s phenomenal team,” said Goldrath. “The opportunity to build on the Institute’s unprecedented deep immune profiling will reveal underlying biology and molecular pathways of cellular interactions regulating immune responses throughout the body, enabling novel insights for the field of Immunology and for improving human health.”

Dr. Goldrath succeeds Tom Bumol, a pharma industry veteran who helped launch the Allen Institute for Immunology in 2018. Goldrath officially joins the Allen Institute in the fall.