Jianmei Leavenworth, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery, has been appointed inaugural assistant program leader for the UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Cancer Biology and Immunology Program, effective Feb. 1, 2025.

The appointment is part of a new initiative by the cancer center to provide leadership experience and training for emerging leaders. Four assistant program leaders have been appointed across the center’s research programs, offering them the opportunity to integrate into different leadership activities in their respective programs and in the broader cancer center in addition to taking leadership courses offered at UAB.

With extensive experience in immunotherapy, Leavenworth’s research explores 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 develop effective strategies for cancer immunotherapy, a focus that aligns with her new role in the Cancer Biology and Immunology Program.