Dr. Leifer is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland College Park and her PhD from the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences at Cornell. While a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda Maryland, she began work on the intracellular localization and trafficking of receptors critical for innate immune responses. Her current research is on the regulation of innate immune receptors and inflammation. She has obtained R01, R21, R25 and R03 funding from the NIAID, as well as K22 funding from the NCI. Dr. Leifer has extensive experience mentoring early career faculty, both one-on-one and in groups. During her time at Cornell, she has developed a successful research program, been promoted to associate professor, taught extensively about immunology at many levels (from undergraduate to professional veterinary), and has developed a service portfolio geared towards mentoring and promoting the success of women and diverse faculty. She has attended Cornell’s Leadership Institute and Faculty Institute on Diversity, which address issues such as how unconscious bias can have an impact on classroom teaching, advising and evaluating students, and recruiting, hiring and mentoring new faculty. Within the College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Leifer has chaired the committee for the status of faculty women, which has implemented professional development programs to promote the success of women at the CVM. Outside of Cornell, Dr. Leifer has chaired the membership committee of the Society for Leukocyte Biology. Dr. Leifer is also the co-host of the podcast Immune.