Dr. Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti is a world-leading expert in the fields of innate immunity, inflammasomes, and inflammatory cell death. She currently serves as a Member, Vice Chair, and Rose Marie Thomas Endowed Chair in the Immunology Department and Director of the Center of Excellence for Innate Immunity and Inflammation at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
As a founding member of the inflammasome field, Dr. Kanneganti’s research has yielded fundamental insights into innate immunity, inflammation, and cell death. Notably, Dr. Kanneganti’s studies identified NLRP3, ZBP1, AIM2, and NLRP12 as key innate immune sensors, and she elucidated their upstream regulatory mechanisms, significantly advancing our understanding of biological processes. Dr. Kanneganti has also pioneered the concept of the inflammatory cell death pathway, PANoptosis, bridging major gaps in the fields of innate immunity, cell death, and inflammation. Beyond discovering the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms for interacting networks of innate immune sensors and cell death components, her work established governing biological principles and the physiological relevance of these pathways in infections, inflammatory diseases, and cancer. She has also significantly advanced the cytokine field and identified regulatory mechanisms and functions for IL-1 family members, as well as synergism between TNF and IFN-γ, which induces inflammatory cell death and “cytokine storm.” Consistently recognised for her exceptional contributions, Dr. Kanneganti has been named one of the world’s most highly cited researchers for seven consecutive years by Clarivate Analytics. She also received the International Cytokine and Interferon Society Milstein Award for Excellence in Interferon and Cytokine Research; she is a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and she received the 2024 American Association of Immunologists-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award. By continually advancing basic and translational research, she remains at the forefront of her field.