Vini Mani
Principal
Vini Mani joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2019, working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. In her role, she works with a team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class platforms.
Prior to joining Flagship, Vini completed her doctoral studies in Immunology at Harvard Medical School, where she studied the role of TGF-b in tissue resident memory T cell development in the skin. Utilizing a combination of multi-photon intravital microscopy and various in vivo immunological models, her graduate work shifted the paradigm of T cell differentiation, uncovering a novel stage of T cell development termed “homeostatic conditioning." She was selected to present her work at several local and international meetings, earning multiple awards including the Janeway Award from the American Association of Immunologists. Vini also collaborated on many projects in barrier immunity, immuno-oncology, autoimmunity and allergy, leading to several co-authored publications.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Vini was director of product development and a member of the founding team of Adeo Health Science, a Boston-based startup focused on the prevention of allergy development in children. Vini also devoted significant time to cultivating the next generation of scientists, as a co-director of Science in the News, an organization that provides a platform for graduate students to hone their communication skills and interface with various members of the general public. In addition, she has held various leadership and teaching roles in the Harvard Immunology Graduate Program and the Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School, where she continues to actively serve as an alumni mentor.
Vini holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Bioengineering with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley. Her undergraduate research focused on elucidating the role of lipid mediators in wound healing by mass spectrometry.