Allen becomes president of American Association of Immunologists

Paul M. Allen, Ph.D., the Robert L. Kroc Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, today became president of the 6,500-member American Association of Immunologists (AAI).

Paul Allen
Paul Allen

Allen is a cellular immunologist who specializes in the study of how T lymphocytes recognize antigen and initiate an immune response. He seeks insights into the basic workings of the immune system that may someday allow researchers to better control immune rejection of transplanted organs or to prevent the development of arthritis caused by immune system malfunctions.

Allen currently serves as the organization’s vice president. He has been an elected AAI councilor for four years.

“The association is the one professional organization that immunologists use as their voice to speak to Congress and the National Institutes of Health,” Allen says. “It works to advocate for NIH funding for immunology research, to maintain our ability to use important research tools such as animal experimentation, and to foster the development of the careers of young scientists, especially women, in our field.”

AAI also supports continuing education courses for its members and conveys the value and progress of immunological research to the public.

Allen will serve a one-year term as president. He will preside over the organization’s annual meeting, held next May in Boston.

AAI was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Md. It is a member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.


Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.