Haval Shirwan is a Professor in the Department of Child Health and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Associate Director of the Immunomodulation and Regenerative Medicine Program, Ellis Fischer Cancer Center, and a NextGen Precision Health faculty member, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO. He earned a PhD in Molecular Biology-Biochemistry from the University of California in Santa Barbara, CA, followed by postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. Before relocating to the University of Missouri- Columbia in 2020, He served on the faculty of various academic institutions in the United States, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Alleghany University of Health Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. He pioneered with Esma Yolcu the concept of transient and positional display of immunological ligands on the surface of cells and tissues as a safe, practical, and effective alternative to gene therapy for localized immunomodulation with applications to transplantation, autoimmunity, and cancer immunoprevention and immunotherapy. He is an inventor with 26 issued patents, founder/co-founder of 3 biotech startups, widely published, and organized and lectured at numerous national/international conferences. He has continuously been funded by federal and non-federal funding agencies and serves on the editorial board of various scientific journals.