Sept. 8: Ford Lecture Speaker to Discuss Immune System Response to Viral Infection, Vaccines

Wednesday, September 8, 2021
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Virtual event--morning talk at 9 a.m.; evening talk at 7:30 p.m.

Mankato, Minn. – Marc Jenkins (Ph.D.), an immunologist who heads the University of Minnesota Center for Immunology, will deliver two virtual lectures Wednesday, Sept. 8 in Minnesota State University, Mankato’s 31^st Leonard A. Ford Lectureship.

Both virtual lectures are free to the public. Registration is required.

Jenkins (pictured at right) will give a technical talk at 9 a.m. on Sept. 8 titled “The Grand Unified Theory of Immunology.” Online registration is available at https://link.mnsu.edu/fordtechnical.

According to a provided abstract, Jenkins in his technical talk will discuss the clonal selection theory of the adaptive immune system and provide evidence for the theory using the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection as an example.

Jenkins will present a general talk at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 8 titled “How Your Immune System Responds to Viral Infection and Vaccines.” Online registration is available at https://link.mnsu.edu/ford.

According to an abstract of Jenkins’ evening talk, vaccines have great potential to end the COVID-19 pandemic and yet are controversial. Jenkins’ lecture will address how vaccines stimulate the immune system and why vaccines are such safe and powerful tools for infection control.

According to a provided biography, Jenkins is a native Minnesotan who received a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Minnesota in 1980 and completed a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Northwestern University in 1985. He then did postdoctoral training in immunology at the National Institutes of Health. He returned to the University of Minnesota in 1988 as an assistant professor in the microbiology department. He is now a Regents and Distinguished McKnight University Professor and heads the University of Minnesota Center for Immunology, where he does research on the immune system. Jenkins is a recipient of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Excellence in Mentoring Award, the AAI Lifetime Achievement Award and is a past President of the AAI. In 2020, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, becoming the first University of Minnesota medical school faculty member to receive this honor in 50 years.

The event is sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Geology in Minnesota State Mankato’s College of Science, Engineering & Technology.

For more information, contact Christine Cords, office manager in the Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Geology, at 507-389-1963, or christine.cords@mnsu.edu.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,604 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.