About the Annual Haider Lecture
The Thomas & Salma Haider Biomedical Breakthrough Lecture brings the best and brightest researchers in the biomedical field to Riverside to present their research. The 2026 lecture will be held on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 at 6 pm and will feature Pamela J. Bjorkman, PhD, NAS, AAAS, the David Baltimore professor of biology and biological engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA.
A reception will begin at 5:30 pm.
This annual lecture series is supported through the generosity of an endowed gift from Dr. Thomas and Salma Haider, longtime supporters of medical education and research at the University of California, Riverside.
Event Information
When: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026
Reception: 5:30 pm
Lecture begins: 6 pm
Where: School of Medicine Education Building II
Questions: Email development@medsch.ucr.edu
RSVP: Please RSVP here
Meet Pamela Bjorkman, PhD
She received a BA in chemistry from the University of Oregon and a PhD in biochemistry from Harvard University. As a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow with Don Wiley, she solved the first 3-D structure of a major histocompatibility complex molecule.
Bjorkman is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and an elected fellow of AAAS. She received the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Immunology, the James R. Klinenberg Science Award, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Award, the Max Planck Research Award, the Rose Payne Distinguished Scientist Award, an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Ceppellini Award from European Federation for Immunogenetics, was a L’OREAL-UNESCO Women in Science Laureate, and received the Pearl Meister Greengard prize.
Bjorkman’s lab studies the structural basis of the host immune response to HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and other viruses.
About Dr. Thomas and Salma Haider
Dr. Thomas T. Haider is a world-renowned spine surgeon, philanthropist, entrepreneur and inventor. He and his wife, Salma, have been stalwart supporters of improving medical education in Inland Southern California and were key contributors in the founding of the UCR School of Medicine.
The Haider's generous support the SOM includes the Thomas Haider Program at UC Riverside School of Medicine, which provides an avenue for qualified and culturally diverse, underprivileged students to enroll in UCR School of Medicine each year, The Salma Haider Endowed Chair for the Thomas Haider Program, and this annual lecture series.
Dr. Haider is a recipient of the UC Riverside Chancellor’s Medal, the American Medical Association’s Pride in the Profession Award and was awarded the Outstanding Medical Profession of the Year Award by United States Congress. The Haiders created and run the Children’s Spine Foundation, through which they provide free medical care to children at their clinic, the Haider Spine Center, as well as in hospitals abroad.
Past Presenters
2025: David Lo, MD, PhD
The 2025 lecture featured David Lo, MD, PhD, the distinguished professor in the Division of Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine and director of the Bridging Regional Ecology, Aerosolized Toxins, and Health Effects (BREATH) Lab.
Watch his presentation, “Toxic Ecologies: The Salton Sea, Asthma, and Miasma.”
2024: Jens Juul Holst, MD
The 2024 lecture featured Jens Juul Holst, MD, professor of endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Copenhagen. He is professor of medical physiology at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. He is also senior group leader at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen.
Watch his presentation, "The gut as a source for effective medication of obesity and diabetes."
2023: David Baker, PhD
Director of the Institute for Protein Design, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry, and an adjunct professor of genome sciences, bioengineering, chemical engineering, computer science, and physics at the University of Washington.
Baker was the recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, for their work predicting and designing the structure of proteins.
Watch his presentation, "Protein design using artificial intelligence" on YouTube
2022: Event Not Held
2021: Stanley Qi, PhD
Assistant professor, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, and the Stanford ChEM-H Institute
Watch his presentation, "Synthetic genome engineering for genomics and therapeutics" on YouTube
2020: Paul Offit, MD
Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Watch his presentation, "Developing a COVID-19 Vaccine at Warp Speed" on YouTube
2019: David Hafler, MD
William S. and Lois Stiles Edgerly Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Professor of Immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine
Watch his presentation, "Immune Cell Adaptation in the Brain: Your Brain is on Fire" on YouTube
2018: Susan L. Akerman, PhD
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and the Stephen W. Kuffler Chair in Biology, at the University of California, San Diego