Instituto de Medicina Molecular
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa
Avenida Professor Egas Moniz
1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
Lab Website:
Research Interests:
Our research is focused on T-cell development in the human thymus and on the peripheral homeostasis of human CD4 T cells, with two main interests: 1) thymic Foxp3+ regulatory T-cell lineage commitment; and 2) mechanisms involved in naïve CD4 T-cell maintenance and differentiation.
We combined the study of human thymus, blood and secondary lymphoid tissues with the investigation of unique clinical settings, namely patients with genetic defects of the immune system, individuals with HIV-1 or HIV-2 infection, and adults thymectomized early in life during reconstructive cardiac surgery.
The experimental strategies include multi-color flow-cytometry, NGS, and a variety of immunological and molecular approaches using cell and tissue culture systems.
Our ultimate goal is to better understand the pathogenesis of primary and secondary immunodeficiency and to find new strategies for immune reconstitution.