TIME100 Health list features Scripps Research Professor Darrell Irvine

LA JOLLA, CA—Scripps Research professor Darrell Irvine is featured in 2026 TIME100 Health: an annual list of the 100 individuals who most influenced global health this year. Honorees are those driving meaningful change toward a healthier world for all.

Irvine, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the vice chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, is a renowned scientist collaborating at the intersection of immunology, microbiology, chemistry and more. By engineering strategies directed toward problems in cellular immunology, Irvine and his lab aim to modulate and empower the immune system to fight a range of severe diseases.

One of Irvine’s major efforts focuses on enhancing vaccine development for HIV and cancer: Earlier this month, he published a study in Science revealing how “invisible” vaccine scaffolding boosts HIV immune response. Irvine is also part of a Scripps Research team that recently received a $6.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to identify more effective vaccines to treat HIV. 

“I am honored to be included in this year’s TIME100 Health list alongside scientists who are motivated by a similar purpose: improving human health around the world,” Irvine says. “Cancer and infectious diseases continue to be among the deadliest threats worldwide. We are now entering a moment where immunotherapies may allow us to not solely treat these diseases, but also fundamentally change their course by harnessing the innate and adaptive powers of the immune system.”

Members of the TIME100 Health list will be celebrated at the TIME100 Impact Dinner: Leaders Shaping the Future of Health on February 19, 2026, in New York City.