Amnon Altman, Ph.D., was a Professor at La Jolla Institute for Immunology for 31 years. His research into T cell activation opened the door to new therapies for inflammation, autoimmune diseases, cancers, and more. Dr. Altman was born in Israel and came to the United States in 1975 to complete postdoctoral studies at the National Institutes of Health. After serving on the faculty at Scripps Research, Dr. Altman joined LJI in 1990. Dr. Altman launched the Division of Cell Biology at LJI and published pivotal research into biochemical events in T cell activation, characterization of protein kinase enzymes, and the roles of a subset of T lymphocytes called regulatory T cells (Tregs) in cancer. His work led to the discovery and biological characterization of an enzyme called protein kinase C-theta (PKCθ). Dr. Altman trained an estimated 65 postdoctoral fellows in his career, and many of these trainees have gone on to establish their own laboratories at universities around the world and serve as leaders at pharmaceutical companies.

Joel Linden, Ph.D. was a Professor of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology and a leading expert on adenosine receptors, which are important for regulating inflammation. Dr. Linden received a B.S. from Brown University in Applied Mathematics and Biology and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in Pharmacology. Dr. Linden has devoted the past 30 years to the study of the pharmacology, physiology and molecular biology of adenosine receptors and has co-authored over 200 papers and over 30 US patents on this subject. Dr. Linden has chaired several NIH study sections, and started a successful biopharmaceutical company, Adenosine Therapeutics.

Dr. Newmeyer was a Professor on the LJI faculty from 1994-2019. Dr. Newmeyer’s research focused on the functioning of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, and the role of mitochondria during the process. Dr. Newmeyer received his B.S. in physics and his M.S. in mathematics from Drexel University in 1976. In 1980, he received an M.S. in biophysics from the University of Rochester, followed by his Ph.D. in biophysics in 1983. That same year, Dr. Newmeyer began his postdoctoral work at the Biocenter of the University of Basel in Basel, Switzerland. In 1985, he returned to the U.S. to begin a postdoctoral fellowship with the University of California, San Diego in its Biology Department. From 1989 to 1994, Dr. Newmeyer worked as an assistant staff scientist at the La Jolla Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Newmeyer received the Newcomen Award for Excellence in Chemistry and Physics from Drexel University in 1976.