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Bofill i Soliguer, Margarida
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ICREA Research Professor at IRSICAIXA (IrsiCaixa). Life & Medical Sciences
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After my graduation as a biologist at the Univesity of Barcelona, I was lucky to enter the world of the new born discipline "Immunology" in the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, where I trained and worked as a immunologist consultant. Fascinated by this subject I joint the Immunology Department of the Royal Free Hospital in London. My first contribution in the field was the description of immune cells and its organisation in lymphoid organs in health and disease (thanks to the development of an new tool: monoclonal antibodies). These reagents have also been used as therapeutic tools. One of my reagents (CD25) is still routinely used worldwide in Kidney transplantation. Simultaneously a new disease AIDS was born. We were the first to realise the impact that this disease had in the destruction of the CD4 T cells followed by the disorganisation of lymphoid tissues. Back to Barcelona I am now working in finding new strategies to develop an effective vaccine for HIV.My H factor is 38
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Research Interest
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A successful vaccine stimulates the generation of protective immune T cells. These cells are born in the thymus and then emigrate to the rest of the body. Vaccines to HIV have been so far ineffective, because HIV destroys these immune T-cells. We have designed a vaccine trial to test whether the regeneration of the thymus, through the administration of Growth Hormone, can restore the immunity to HIV in adult HIV patients
The IFN-gamma is crutial for the control of intracellular parsites. We are interested in the role of IFN produced by macrophages as a link between innate and adaptative immune response
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KeyWords
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HIV, Vaccines, IL-12 and IL-18
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