University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery Associate Professor Jianmei Leavenworth, M.D., Ph.D., was recently awarded tenure.
 
Leavenworth joined the department as an assistant professor in 2016 from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University. After earning her medical degree at Nantong University (NTU) School of Medicine, Nantong, Jiangsu, China, Leavenworth completed her doctoral training in molecular biology, microbiology and biochemistry with a focus on immunology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She then served as a postdoctoral research fellow and instructor at Harvard Medical School.
 
Leavenworth’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of self-tolerance, focusing on molecular and cellular elements that regulate effector and regulatory cell subsets of the immune response. Her long-term goal is to discover effective strategies for cancer immunotherapy using mouse models and specimens from patients with malignant tumors, including gliomas.
 
Using her extensive experience in immunotherapy, specifically cancer immunotherapy, Leavenworth has made many valuable contributions to the Heersink School of Medicine’s Department of Neurosurgery.