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Rahul Sharma, PhD Charlottesville, VA USA Dr. Sharma has been studying end-organ failure and inflammation in systemic autoimmune diseases for 15 years. His recent work has identified novel pathways for homeostasis of T-regulatory (Treg) cells leading to generation of a novel propriety reagent (US patent granted, 2017), which inhibits inflammation and induced a regenerative program in the kidneys and pancreas utilizing both immune-dependent and independent mechanisms showing persistent remission in preclinical studies on autoimmune (lupus nephritis and type-1 diabetes) and inflammatory diseases (acute kidney injury and diabetic nephropathy). His laboratory also studies the role of checkpoint inhibitors in Treg function and metabolism. Their group is validating these pathways in acute kidney injury in cardiac surgery patients. His laboratory also investigates the contribution of defective clearance of extra-nuclear DNA in loss of tolerance and autoimmunity. His laboratory is supported by awards from NIH and non-profit foundations. His graduate work was the first in the history of Indian Biotechnology to be translated for production of protein pharmaceuticals, is in use for patient care and was awarded the National Technology Award by the Government of India. Dr. Sharma serves on review committees for Veterans administration and National Institutes of Health and is on the editorial board of Frontiers in Pharmacology - Renal, Modern Research in Inflammation and Advances in Medicine-Immunology. As an educator he is the course director of Immunology for the UVA School of Medicine's next generation curriculum.