Prof. Ilangumaran obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine from Madras Veterinary College in India, followed by a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and PhD in Immunology, both from Madurai-Kamaraj University in India. He underwent postdoctoral training at University of Geneva in Switzerland and then at the University of Toronto in Canada before becoming a faculty member at the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada, where he is a professor of immunology. His research interests are the homeostasis of CD8+ T lymphocytes, its modulation by cytokines and regulation of cytokine receptor signaling by SOCS proteins. He has shown that cytokines influencing the antigen-specific activation of CD8+ T cells has implications for autoimmunity and could be exploited for cancer immunotherapy. He is also interested in deciphering the tumor-suppressor mechanisms of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in the liver and prostate gland, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets.