Dr. JoAnne Flynn has a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from UC Berkeley, with postdoctoral training with Dr. Magdalene So at Scripps and Dr. Barry Bloom at Einstein College of Medicine. Flynn is a distinguished professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where she directs an NIH T32 Training Program. She was ASM Division E Chair in 2008 and an editor for Infection and Immunity for 10 years. She is a section editor for PLoS Pathogens and served on the NIH NIAID Board of Scientific Counselors for 4 years and the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Council for 7 years and was AAI President in 2018. 

Flynn has published over 200 papers from her research on the biology and immunopathogenesis of pathogenic microbes. Awards include being a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Distinguished Fellow of AAI and the University Distinguished Mentor Award and Distinguished Research Award. Her research in tuberculosis is focused on host-pathogen interactions, vaccines and drugs.