Janko Nikolich to join College of Medicine – Phoenix as associate dean of research

Janko Ž. Nikolich, MD, PhD, will be joining the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix as the new associate dean of research on Sept. 2.

Nikolich is an internationally recognized leader in immunology and gerontology. His long-term research interests include basic mechanisms of T-cell function, immunity to acute viral infection in older adults, persistent virus interactions with mammalian hosts over the lifespan, vaccines and biomarkers of declining immunity in the elderly, immune rejuvenation, immune monitoring in chronic conditions of aging, and the impact of inflammation and nutritional intervention in aging, immunity and metabolic disorders.

Nikolich has been working with viral models across RNA and DNA viruses, including select agents, for more than 30 years. He was directly involved in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Arizona, where he co-invented a COVID antibody test and directed statewide antibody screening. He also founded and directs the U of A's Aegis Consortium, which strives for a pandemic-free future and addresses broad societal preparedness and mitigation of infectious outbreaks.

Nikolich, who has authored more than 230 scientific papers and reviews describing his work, has held or holds grant awards from the National Institutes of Health totaling more than $120 million. In 2021, he was named Arizona Biomedical Researcher of the Year as well as the Arizona Geriatric Society Gerontologist of the Year for his unrelenting focus on COVID-19. In 2024, he was elected to the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2025, he received the greatest honor bestowed by the Arizona Board of Regents, the title of Regents Professor.

Nikolich received his MD, MSc and PhD in immunology from Serbia's Belgrade University School of Medicine. He has had a long and distinguished career in the health sciences, including stops at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in the laboratory of Michael J. Bevan, PhD, FRS, as a research associate (1987–1990); Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York as an assistant and, later, associate member (1990–1996); and at the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences as both an assistant and associate professor (1990–1996 and 1996–2001). His early work was recognized with the Pew Biomedical Scholar Award (1991) and the Boyer Young Scientist Award (1998).

In 2001, Nikolich rose to the position of senior scientist at the Oregon Health & Science University at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, along with joint appointments as a tenured professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and a senior scientist at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. In 2008, he joined the University of Arizona to lead the Department of Immunobiology and the Arizona Center on Aging.