Jennifer Gommerman PhD
Professor
Sustained Excellence and Innovation in Life Sciences Education
Graduate Faculty Teaching Awards
Biography
Jen received her Ph.D. (Immunology) at the University of Toronto in 1998. She went on to do a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and then joined Biogen Inc. as a Staff Scienst in 2000. Aer 3 years in Industry, she returned to Academia as an Assistant Professor (Immunology) at the University of Toronto in 2003, in 2015 was promoted to full Professor and in 2020 was awarded a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Tissue Specific Immunity. Jen's basic research focuses on autoimmunity, parcularly the disease Mulple Sclerosis. More recently she has been studying the anbody response to SARS-CoV-2 in paents with COVID-19. She has mentored over 30 undergraduate students, 10 MSc and 16 PhD graduate students as well as 14 Post-Doctoral Fellows and served as the Associate Chair, Graduate Studies from 2012-2020.
From the Nomination
Jen is a true mentor, in every aspect of what it means to be someone who supports, teaches, advises, listens, and guides her trainees. I have seen firsthand the enthusiasm and encouragement she provides to her own graduate students, and to all the students in the Department of Immunology during her tenure as Associate Chair, Graduate Studies. She is simply an exceptional mentor and an exemplar for all of us in Immunology and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.