Newswise — ROCKVILLE, MD (August 19, 2024) — The AAI Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Bonnie N. Dittel, Ph.D. (AAI ’00), as the incoming editor-in-chief of ImmunoHorizons (IH). Dr. Dittel is a senior investigator and the Dr. Gilbert C. White, II Endowed Chair of the Versiti Blood Research Institute in Milwaukee, WI. Dr. Dittel also holds an appointment as a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Dittel’s five-year term will commence on January 1, 2025, and end on December 31, 2029.
Dittel received a Ph.D. in pathobiology from the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Dr. Tucker LeBien (AAI ’81). Her doctoral thesis focused on human B cell development. She completed postdoctoral work at the Yale University School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Janeway (AAI ’74), where she focused on B cell regulation in autoimmunity.
While a postdoctoral scientist, Dittel was appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Fellow; she was promoted to an Associate Research Scientist at Yale in 1999. In 2000, she began her tenure as an Associate Investigator at the Versiti Blood Research Institute. She was promoted to Senior Investigator in 2009 and was honored with the Dr. Gilbert C. White, II Endowed Chair in 2022. Additionally, Dittel was appointed Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2001 and became Professor in 2019.
The Dittel lab studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in regulating inflammation, specifically in the setting of multiple sclerosis. Current work in her lab focuses on the new regulatory B cell subset – B cell IgD Low (BDL) – in maintaining regulatory T cell populations at a level sufficient to dampen inflammation and control disease progression. In 2020, Dittel was awarded the NIH Director’s Fund Transformative Research Award for her research on developing a BDL-based universal adoptive cell therapy for treating autoimmunity and other inflammatory disorders.
Dittel is currently a senior editor for ImmunoHorizons and was a section editor for The Journal of Immunology from 2009 to 2013. She served as an Abstract Programming Chair for the AAI annual meeting from 2021 to 2024 and was an appointed member of the Committee on the Status of Women from 2007 to 2012, of which she was appointed Chair from 2009 to 2012. She also served as the AAI representative for the FASEB Excellence in Science Award selection committee from 2009 to 2012.
Beyond her involvement with AAI, Dr. Dittel has served on or chaired multiple review panels and NIH study sections. She was named to Stanford’s list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists in 2023.
“AAI is delighted to welcome Bonnie Dittel as editor-in-chief of ImmunoHorizons,” said AAI President Stephen Jameson, Ph.D. “Dr. Dittel’s impressive expertise in immunology and her reputation for excellence make her particularly well-suited for this position. I am confident that she will guide the journal through the changing landscape of publishing, and that ImmunoHorizons will grow under her leadership to further advance the knowledge of immunology globally.”
Dittel takes the reins of ImmunoHorizons at a pivotal time for AAI’s scholarly journals. Beginning in 2025, AAI will partner with Oxford University Press to produce and market both The Journal of Immunology and ImmunoHorizons.
“I am honored to be chosen as the incoming editor-in-chief of ImmunoHorizons, following in the footsteps of previous editors who laid the groundwork for the journal to serve a broad scientific community. As a long-time AAI member, I have watched the field of immunology grow from a relatively new discipline into a science that impacts almost every disease. I envision ImmunoHorizons as the journal that bridges different fields and attracts additional investigators to the field of immunology,” said Dittel.
Founded in 2017, ImmunoHorizons is AAI’s fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal committed to advancing the knowledge of immunology. Dittel succeeds Editor-in-Chief Mark H. Kaplan, Ph.D., whose term began in 2020 and will end in December 2024.
"This is an exciting time for ImmunoHorizons, and Dr. Dittel is an outstanding choice to be the journal’s next editor-in-chief," said AAI CEO Loretta Doan. "As a current senior editor of the journal, Dr. Dittel has already made a significant impact, and she has a clear and aspirational vision for growing ImmunoHorizons."
About The American Association of Immunologists
The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) is one of the world’s largest organizations of immunologists and scientists in related disciplines. Our mission is to improve global health and well-being by advancing immunology and elevating public understanding of the immune system. AAI members are responsible for some of the most significant biomedical discoveries of the past century, including the development of life-saving cancer immunotherapies, antibody therapies, transplant technologies, and vaccines. We support scientists across the field of immunology through knowledge dissemination, community building, advocacy, and public outreach.
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