Cynthia Leifer is a professor of immunology at Cornell University. She can respond authoritatively to your questions about measles, the flu and other infectious and viral diseases; how immune responses work; vaccines; the peanut allergy; the microbiome and health, and federal research funding.

Leifer’s recent work focuses on how the immune system recognizes infections, and how it regulates immune responses and inflammation. Her findings have the potential to improve the lives of patients with inflammatory diseases including autoimmune diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which affects more than 1 million people in the U.S. Leifer is the author of several recent Op-Eds about the measles outbreak for CNN and has been interviewed by HuffPost Live and BBC world.

Bio: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/microbiology/faculty/Leifer/

She says:

“Some of today’s parents may not realize how fortunate they were to have been vaccinated when they were young. The spreading measles outbreak is a shocking reminder of how effective viruses are at making children sick, and why they need to vaccinate their children.”

For interviews contact:Melissa Osgoodoffice: 607-255-2059cell: 716-860-0587[email protected]

Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.