Program
Immunology
Understanding immune defenses: from damage to regeneration
Over millions of years, the immune system has evolved to protect our bodies against pathogens and to detect and eliminate cancer cells, while promoting regenerative processes meant to rebuilt tissues after its protective, yet sometimes damaging, activation.
We are studying how and when this protective system fails to act and, on the contrary, the reason why sometimes it doesn’t stop, leading to immune-mediated diseases.
Among our research interests there is the development and activation of immune cells, the signaling pathways involved in inflammation and immune responses to infections, the crosstalk between immunity and cancer and inflammation’s role in neurological and cardiovascular diseases.