LJI Webinar to Highlight Global Virus Research Efforts

La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) announced an upcoming installment of its Live from the Lab webinar series focused on emerging virus research and global infectious disease efforts. The virtual event, titled A Fresh Look at Viruses, is scheduled for May 20, 2026, and will feature discussions on Ebola and Lassa virus research taking place in African countries.

The webinar will be moderated by virologist and immunologist Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., MBA, President and CEO of LJI, and will feature researchers Kelly Shaffer and Onyeka Chukwudozie, Ph.D. The discussion will provide a behind-the-scenes look at how fieldwork in remote regions is contributing to discoveries about dangerous viral diseases such as Ebola and Lassa fever.

While the webinar is centered on infectious disease research, the broader themes are also relevant to autoimmune disease and immune-mediated conditions. Viral infections have long been studied as potential triggers or contributors to immune dysregulation, chronic inflammation, and post-viral complications. Understanding how the immune system responds to high-risk viral infections may help researchers better understand immune activation more broadly, including mechanisms involved in autoimmune disease.

LJI also emphasized its broader mission of applying immunology research to cancer, autoimmune, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases to make disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment more precise and effective.