Michael Vajdy
Co-founder Principal and Chief Scientific Officer Mucosal Immunologist and Vaccinologist EpitoGenesis, Inc. USA
Biography
Dr. Michael Vajdy is Co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of EpitoGenesis, Inc., established in 2008. Dr. Vajdy is a Mucosal Immunologist and Vaccinologist with over 24 years of academic and industry experience in designing mucosal and systemic adjuvants and vaccines, studying mechanisms of mucosal and systemic immune induction, long-term immunological memory, and product development. Following his Ph.D. Studentship at Goteborg University under the supervision of Dr. Nils Lycke, a prominent mucosal immunologist, Dr. Vajdy completed postdoctoral fellowships at Loyola University Chicago with Dr. Katherine Knight, then President of the American Association of Immunology and at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Marian Neutra, a renowned expert in mucosal biology and M cells of the intestinal Peyer’s patches and mucosal HIV vaccine development. Dr. Vajdy was recruited to Chiron Corporation (later Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc.) where his work was instrumental in the development of mucosal and systemic vaccine products against various infectious diseases. He remained there for 9.5 years with increasing responsibilities including project leadership for a vaccine manufacturing platform technology. He also held simultaneous academic positions as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Visiting Associate Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis. He was also a Faculty member with the graduate group, Department of Comparative Pathology, University of California, Davis. In these capacities, he trained student/fellows and wrote collaborative NIH grants. Dr. Vajdy has authored over 55 peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters; he is the editor of a book entitled “Immunity against Mucosal Pathogens” (Springer, 2008) and has been PI or Investigator on several NIH grants. He is currently an Adjunct Full professor at the Department of Pathobiology, University of Connecticut.