Dr. Fernando Macian is a professor in the Department of Pathology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Dr. Macian obtained his MD and PhD from the University Valencia in Spain and conducted post-doctoral training at Harvard University. His group studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control T-cell (immune system cell) fate, focusing on how different forms of autophagy (controlled break down of cell materials) regulate the molecular events that control T-cell engagement in effector functions and tolerance. His group is also interested in defining how age-associated changes in the activity and regulation of autophagy in lymphocytes (white blood cells) may underlie the defects in the immune responses that occur with age. Dr. Macian has received an Irene Diamond Research Scholar Award in Immunology and a Hirschl-Caullier Research Career Award, and is a member of the National Scientific Advisory Council of the American Federation for Aging Research.