Salvatore Albani, MD, PhD

Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore

Director, Translational Immunology Institute, SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre

Prof. Albani is an internationally renowned rheumatologist and immunologist. He is currently Professor of Medicine at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, and the Director of the Translational Immunology Centre at SingHealth Duke-NUS Medical Centre. Before joining Duke-NUS, Dr. Albani served as director of the Translational Medicine Unit at the Clinical Investigation Institute at the University of California, San Diego, where he also was professor of Medicine and Pediatrics. His fundamental research interest is in understanding human immunity and contributing the knowledge to therapeutic and diagnostic advancements. He has developed several innovative approaches in the area of induction and maintenance of immune tolerance in humans, being responsible for the whole translational process from idea to the conclusion of a Phase II clinical trial in autoimmune inflammatory diseases, which have a large impact on society and individuals. He has been responsible for conception and execution of each of the stages of this complex itinerary, which spans a wide and diverse gradient of technologies and challenges.

These include molecular immunology, lead identification and validation, intellectual property, CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls), IND (Investigational New Drug filings), trial design, data management and analysis, interfacing with Venture Capital and Pharma, leading complex groups in a multi-center setting, etc. The technology platform has applications in diseases that could benefit from a restoration of immune tolerance. This translational research itinerary has been the original backbone of his career, as witnessed by a rich publication trail (among others Nature Medicine, Lancet, JCI, PNAS, Nature Rheumatology, A&R, ARD, etc, H factor 34) and by approximately 100 patents. Development of high throughput technology platforms is also part of his scientific career. These platforms aim to provide tools for knowledge-based diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

In his role as an educator, it has been his privilege to mentor many talented individuals, and to provide the right challenges and learning opportunities to help them grow and advance. He seeks to expand this even further by helping to create and nurture the next generation of translational scientists. An important step is cultivating in translational professionals the necessary awareness, knowledge and experience to contribute significantly to the advancement of the field.