Everyone
Day of Immunology
Day of Immunology at Yale is an opportunity for high school students to learn all about the immune system and what it's like to be a biologist! Join us each year to participate in new fun, interactive workshops and games, tour immunology labs, and hear from special guest speakers about how immunology impacts our daily lives.
This free event is held annually and is open to Yale Pathways to Science students and high school students from the greater New Haven area.
Apr 202427Saturday
Programming
Each year features new interactive learning experiences such as:
Invasion Room
Why do we get sick? What in our bodies helps us fight off infections like bacteria and viruses? Come work as a team to see if you have what it takes to escape the immune system in an escape room game!
Immune System Gone Rogue
What happens if your immune system becomes dysregulated? You'll be a detective as you learn about the consequences of a rogue immune response and solve a medical mystery!
Cancer Immunology: Beating the Odds!
Did you know that your immune cells are programmed to kill cancer cells? Come play an interactive board game to learn more about this process and cancer immunology!
Immunity During Pregnancy: Protecting (for Two)!
How does pregnancy work anyways?! Come play our interactive Game of Life to learn about the role of the immune system throughout pregnancy and how babies develop during gestation!
Pandemics & Weird Immune Systems!
Did you know that new viruses can jump into humans from animals?! Learn about how different animal species have different immune systems, and how this difference impacts the capacity of viruses to cross from one species to another.
Parasite Pursuit!
What are parasites and how does our body respond to them? Take on the role of a parasitologist and work together to identify your patient's mystery illness.
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Day of Immunology 2024 welcomed over 60 students from the Yale Pathways to Science program and local New Haven high schools.
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Students tour Yale IBIO labs and learn how to perform serial dilutions (DOI 2023).
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Instructors for "Invasion Room,” an escape room modeling host-pathogen interactions, prepare their classroom (DOI 2023).
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Students learn about the key cells of the immune response before putting that knowledge into action (DOI 2024).
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Students race to solve puzzles and unlock aspects of the immune response during the "Invasion Room" workshop (DOI 2023).
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Students try to "beat the odds" and learn how the immune system fights cancer in an innovative board game (DOI 2024).
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Students check out what grew on the petri dishes they swabbed at home as a part of the "Microbiome: The World Inside of Us" workshop (DOI 2023).
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Students try to "find their match" as they discover how immune rejection affects organ transplantation (DOI 2023).
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Students investigate cells from different organisms to learn about species-specific resistance to infection by certain pathogens (DOI 2024).
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Students take part in a career exploration session to learn about the many pathways to be involved in conducting, supporting, and communicating about biomedical research (DOI 2023).
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Students get their “passport” stamped by instructors and volunteers for asking questions and sharing what they’ve learned during their workshops (DOI 2024).
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Day of Immunology brings together students, trainees, faculty, and staff from across the IBIO department and YSM to teach and volunteer at the event (DOI 2024).
Interested in getting involved as an instructor or part of the planning committee? We welcome students, faculty, and trainees of any level who are excited about teaching immunology to join.
DOI 2024 Planning Committee
Chair: Sasha Tabachnikova
Logistics Coordinators: Mackenzie Bender & Lotus Lum
Educational Module Coordinator: Sarah Ohashi
Funding Coordinators: Dan Ryan, Matthew Spencer, & Tomomi Yoshida
Publicity & Volunteer Coordinator: Lindsey Hughes
Educational Module Instructors: Nivi Ayer, Mackenzie Bender, RuthMabel Boytz, Isabela Brown-Soler, Patricia Colom Diaz, Aicha El Allam, Adrianna Jones, Jenny Lu, Jacob Mathai, Miyu Moriyama, Mario Peña-Hernandez, Mackenzie Sky, Kerri St. Denis, Angela To, Sofia Vieto, Lena Wirth, Kenneth Zhou
Supplemental Activity Coordinators: Hailey Brown, Jacob Mathai, Stephanie Schwartz, Kerri St. Denis, Jennifer Wang, Lena Wirth
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Paula Kavathas
DOI 2024 Sponsors/Partners
- Yale Department of Immunobiology
- Yale Pathways to Science
- Yale Graduate & Professional Student Senate
- Airgas®
- Bio X Cell
- Olink
- STEMCell TechnologiesTM
History
Day of Immunology (DOI) at Yale was conceptualized in 2021, a time during which scientific literacy surrounding vaccines, the immune system, and microbes became even more imperative. Immunology is rarely covered in the standard K-12 biology curriculum in the United States. We therefore saw an opportunity to introduce younger students to this growing field of study with such inextricable ties to human health and disease. We hope that pre-college outreach initiatives such as DOI will help foster belonging in STEM and diversity in these fields moving forward. DOI has now been held annually since 2022, engaging more than 60 local high school students each year.
Past Events
| Year | Date | Chairs | New workshops introduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | March 26 | Lindsey Hughes & Kelli Connolly | Vaccines: Fighting off Pandemics
Invasion Room Microbiome: The World Inside Us Allergy: You're Over-reacting! |
| 2023 | April 29 | Sarah Ohashi & Sasha Tabachnikova | Cancer Immunotherapy: Beating the Odds!
Transplant: Find Your Match! |
| 2024 | April 27 | Sasha Tabachnikova | Immune System Gone Rogue
Parasite Pursuit! Pandemics...& Weird Immune Systems |
Interested in bringing Day of Immunology to your university?
Please send an email us and we would be happy to share workshop materials.