Today, on the ✨ International Day of Women and Girls in Science ✨ , we celebrate the little girls behind the scientists we are today.
May every girl find representation in today's world and feel that science is a place where she belongs and where her curiosity can grow into discovery.
Today is the World NTD day!
👩🏾⚕️ Who are the people looking for new vaccines against #NeglectedTropicalDiseases such as parasitic worm infections?
🏥 Meet the team at CERMEL, one of the #WORMVACS partners➡️ youtu.be/4Ver6pTdWgY
@ec.europa.eu #HaDEA #BeatNTDs #schistosomiasis #worldNTDday
We have a new paper out in BMC Medicine on long-term immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic-to-moderate COVID-19 cases from sub-Saharan Africa. Check the full publication here 👉
link.springer.com/article/10.1... Congratulations to all the people and teams involved! 👏
Today in the lab we had an early Caga Tió surprise 🎁
Before heading off for the Christmas holidays, we celebrated together with a small get-together and shared some delicious panettone. From the Malaria Immunology Lab we wish everyone a restful break and happy holidays! 🎄
This week we are sharing a video where our group leaders, Carlota Dobaño and @moncunill.bsky.social, explain our research on immune responses, vaccines and longterm impact of infections. It was filmed in our new lab space at the Barcelona Science Park, where we moved this September.
5/ Congratulations to both Marloes and Jeremia on their outstanding work, and thank you to LUMC for such a memorable academic tradition! 👏
4/ Both of them were under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Maria Yazdanbakhsh. The ceremonies took place at the beautiful Academiegebouw in Leiden, a place that impressed our team, but not as much as the scientific excellence of the candidates! 😊
3/ Carlota Dobaño was part of the opposition committee for Jeremia Pyuza, defending his thesis “The immune divide: factors influencing immune variation and differences in vaccine response.”
2/ @moncunill.bsky.social served as an opponent for the defense of Marloes van Dorst, presenting her thesis “Overlapping patterns and unique differences: A study into immunological variation within and between populations.”
1/ This week our research group made an important discovery: scientists look fantastic in Dutch academic togas 🎓✨ Our two PIs went to Leiden to take part in not one, but two PhD thesis defenses! This experience was filled with rich scientific discussions… and a definite Hogwarts-like atmosphere.
Check out the infographic we prepared and visit the project website to learn more about this exciting work lead by Ron Hokke and his team at LUMC and with collaborations with all the partners you see in the infographic!
➡️ www.wormvacs.org
8/ Our contribution to WORMVACS2.0 focuses on closing critical knowledge gaps in human immunology to ultimately support the development of vaccines 💉 against two major helminths: Necator americanus and Schistosoma mansoni.
7/ His presentation set the stage for introducing the optimization of a Luminex panel to measure antibody levels and antibody functionality for helminth antigens within the WORMVACS2.0 project.
6/ Alfons Jiménez Morera is a senior technician and one of our Luminex experts 🪄 He delivered a master class on helminths 🪱 that left half of the group with their jaws on the floor because they were not aware of the devastating effects and symptoms these parasites cause.
5/ If you are interested in this project, stay tuned for the upcoming paper and feel free to revisit our two previous publications on this topic:
📖 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33746958/
📖 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33636218/
4/ Some of the main goals of the study are to understand:
👉 How antibodies are transferred from mothers to babies
👉 How different factors, such as maternal HIV infection, affect this transfer
👉 How humoral immunity at birth, along with these factors, shapes malaria exposure during early infancy
3/ The iMIPPAD project focuses on the immunological analysis of serum samples collected from mothers at delivery, their cord blood and their infants. The babies are followed for up to 12 months, with several sampling visits throughout this period.
2/ Elisa Fuentes Raventós, a PhD student in our lab, walked us through the tremendous work she has done analyzing the newest data from the iMIPPAD project, which will soon see the light in a forthcoming publication!
1/ Every other Thursday, we host our Malaria Immunology Lab meeting, where one or two group members share updates on their projects. Today, Elisa Fuentes Raventós and Alfons Jiménez Morera presented the latest advances in two research lines.
I encourage you to read this article👇 it offers a great recap of the key discussions and findings from the 3rd Long COVID Conference we attended last week. Thanks to @thesicktimes.org #LongCOVID #LongCOVIDIntl
thesicktimes.org/2025/11/25/i...
9/ It was an inspiring meeting, and truly encouraging to see the passion and dedication of everyone working to improve the lives of people living with Long COVID.
8/ 💻 Methodological challenges: the need for robust study designs that address the lack of a gold standard and the complexity inherent to such a heterogeneous condition.
7/ 🧪 Biomarkers and endotypes: progress toward integrated panels to improve diagnosis, stratification and clinical management.
6/ 🦠 Emerging hypotheses: insights on viral persistence, immune and metabolic dysfunction, and potential tissue reservoirs.
5/ 👶 Pediatric perspective: how Long COVID manifests in children and adolescents, and how this differs from adults.
4/ 🏥 Disease management: current approaches to improving care and emerging evidence on preventive and therapeutic options.
3/ 🧬 Current state of Long COVID science: advances in identifying patient profiles and the importance of classifying the heterogeneity of the syndrome.
2/ It was a great opportunity to connect with global experts and deepen our understanding of this complex condition. Throughout the conference, we had the chance to learn about: 👇
1/ Last week, @moncunill.bsky.social and Rebeca Santano attended the #LongCOVIDIntl in Boston, where they presented our work on antibody signatures and T-cell phenotypic differences between long COVID and recovered individuals, a work carried out in collaboration with IDIAPJGol.
10/ Looking forward to seeing you all next year and keeping up the collaborative work!
#CIBER #CIBERBBN #CIBERINFEC #ISGlobal
