Emanual Maverakis is an American

physician-scientist A physician-scientist is traditionally a holder of a medical degree and a doctor of philosophy also known as an MD-PhD. Compared to other clinicians, physician-scientists invest significant time and professional effort in scientific research and ...

, immunologist working in the field of

immunogenetics Immunogenetics or immungenetics is the branch of Medical Immunology and Medical Genetics that explores the relationship between the immune system and genetics. Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, are complex genetic traits which result ...

, and a professor at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

Early life and education

Emanual Maverakis was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and spent his early childhood in South Central Los Angeles. His family eventually relocated to Moorpark, California, where he attended high school. He is of mixed heritage. His mother's family immigrated to the United States from

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

Mexico and his father's family immigrated from Crete. Although he would become an accomplished academician, following high school, Maverakis did not immediately pursue a university education. He spent 3 years working as a security guard. He eventually completed his undergraduate studies at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA), where he worked with and was mentored by the late Eli Sercarz PhD, a notable immunologist. He graduated from UCLA with departmental honors and with the Latin distinction summa cum laude. Worried about his rough

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

, Dr. Sercarz ask Maverakis to delay matriculation to

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

for one year, which he agreed to. As a medical student, Maverakis continued his research endeavors, spending a year as a

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

Student Research Fellow at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology between his second and third years of medical school. Maverakis graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2003 with an MD summa cum laude, becoming one of only 15 medical students in Harvard's 237-year history to graduate with highest honors.

Career

Maverakis joined the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

in 2007, maintaining a joint appointment as an assistant professor in residence at the

. After 6 years with the VA, he relocated his laboratory and clinical duties to the

, where he is now a full professor in the Departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Dermatology. His research team is known for their work in the field of

predictive modelling Predictive modelling uses statistics to predict outcomes. Most often the event one wants to predict is in the future, but predictive modelling can be applied to any type of unknown event, regardless of when it occurred. For example, predictive mod ...

, as well as for the development of novel analysis tools for

. As a principal investigator, Maverakis has received several awards, including an NIH Director's New Innovator Award, a

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...

from President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, and early career awards from the

Burroughs Wellcome Fund The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is an American non-profit medical research organization that provides funding for biomedical research, STEM education, and areas of career development for scientists. Since 1970, it has been headquartered in Nor ...

and the

. In 2019, he was elected to the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maverakis, Emanuel Harvard Medical School alumni American immunologists Living people People from Oakland, California University of California, Davis faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni Year of birth missing (living people)