Awards Co-Chairs, Eleanor Fish (L) and Jennifer Towne (R), present Si Ming Man with a Milstein Young Investigator Award.

Si Ming Man
Postdoctoral Fellow

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Dr. Man received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK, for his work on inflammasomes in the host defense against Salmonella infection. He is an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council R.G. Menzies Fellow and holds a joint appointment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia. After completing his Ph.D. in 2013, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti at the Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where he focused his research on the inflammasomes and type I interferons in the regulation of innate immune responses to microbial infection and cancer.

His research identified a role for the transcription factor IRF1 and interferon-inducible cell-autonomous immunity proteins, including guanylate-binding proteins and immunity-related GTPases, in driving activation of the caspase-1 inflammasome and IL-1β and IL-18 release. His work also contributed to the understanding of the spatial orientation of distinct components the inflammasome and the involvement of caspase-8 in the inflammasome. Dr. Man was a recipient of a Thermo Fisher Trainee Achievement Award from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), a Frank Fenner Early Career Fellowship Award from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and a Neoma Boadway Endowed Fellowship from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.