Title Professor in Department of Medicine, Division of Immunobiology Company University of Vermont Bio Dr. Mercedes Rincon, Ph.D., She is a full Professor in Department of Medicine, Division of Immunobiology at the University of Vermont. Dr. Rincon received her Ph.D. from the University Autonoma of Madrid, trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University School of Medicine, and joined the University of Vermont in 1996 as an Assistant Professor initially, Associate Professor with tenure later, and full Professor in Medicine since 2009. In 1997 she established the first transgenic mouse facility in Vermont. She has over 148 publications, many in top journals such as Science, Immunity, Nature Communications. She has served in a number of review panels from the NIH, such as CMI-B and CMI-A and the chair of CMI-A. She has been a member of Associate Editorial Board of several journals and Editor of the International Journal of Biological Science. Dr. Rincon is the primary inventor of two issued patents and three additional filed patents. She has established the SPARK-VT and the I-Trep programs to foster entrepreneurship in academic environments at the University of Vermont and other five States. She is a recognized immunologist with expertise in broad areas of research such as signaling pathways, allergy/asthma, arthritis and influenza infection. In addition, she has also been working for many years in molecular mechanisms of multidrug resistance in breast cancer as well as the effect of inflammation in breast cancer. Over two decades she has provided numerous contributions to the understanding of: 1) the role of IL-6 in T cell response, inflammatory disease, and infection, 2) the role of p38 MAPK pathway in T cell development and activation, and 3) the role of MCJ as a key regulator of mitochondria function and metabolic diseases. Her work extends from basic molecular mechanisms, to in vivo animal models, to clinical studies. Recently, Dr. Rincon has become the co-founder of a new startup biotech, Mitotherapeutix, to move her findings from bench to bed.