JoAnne L. Flynn, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
JoAnne Flynn, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and the Health Sciences Endowed Chair in Microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She has a B.S. in biochemistry, from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from University of California, Berkeley.
Flynn’s first postdoc was with Magdalene So, Ph.D., at Scripps Clinic Research Institute. Then she began her studies in tuberculosis as a Howard Hughes Research Associate with Barry Bloom, Ph.D., at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She served as a councilor for the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and as president in 2018. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Distinguished Fellow of AAI.
Flynn won the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Distinguished Mentor Award in 2018 and Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in 2019. She served a 4-year term on the Board of Scientific Counselors for National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was a section editor at Public Library of Science Pathogens and an editor at Infection and Immunity and The Journal of Immunology.
Her research in tuberculosis is focused on immunology, host-pathogen interactions, vaccines and drugs, and she developed non-human primate models for TB research. Flynn’s research uses cutting-edge tools and technologies, including PET CT imaging, to investigate the complexities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, with a particular focus on lung and lymph node granulomas, vaccines and treatments. Her h-index is 107.