Lecture - Dr. Vojo Deretic

Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, U.S., and founding director of the Autophagy, Inflammation and Metabolism (AIM) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence

Dr. Deretic is an international authority on the role of autophagy in inflammation and immunity. He received his undergraduate, graduate (Ph.D.) and postdoctoral education in Belgrade, Paris, and Chicago. Dr. Deretic’s main contributions to science come from studies by his team on the role of autophagy in infection and immunity. Dr. Deretic is the director of the NIH-funded Autophagy, Inflammation and Metabolism (AIM) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE). The AIM center aims to promote autophagy research nationally and internationally and to develop a cadre of junior faculty and senior experts in this area to study fundamental mechanisms and how autophagy intersects with a broad spectrum of human disease and health states. While his administrative duties are many, his own research has been exceptionally productive and at the cutting edge of international science.